Scolari Still Invite Robinho

Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari still hasn’t given up on his summer target Robinho and announced that the Stamfort Bridge side's doors are “always open for him ”.

Chelsea were linked with the Brazilian international attacker throughout the summer but on the final day of the transfer window, Manchester City snatched the player for a 32million deal from Real Madrid.

During that time Scolari was fuming with Anger for not having being able to bring Robinho to Stamford Bridge and claimed that the former Real Madrid man could have been the best player in the world if he was at Chelsea.

"I am sure that Robinho would be the best player in the world if he came to play at Chelsea," he told Brazilian daily O Globo. "The Chelsea doors are always open to him."

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - CHELSEA - TERRY AIMING FOR KNOCKOUT STAGES

Chelsea captain John Terry wants the Blues to bounce back from their Roma mauling to make sure of a place in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

The club head to Bordeaux on Wednesday looking for a victory to erase the nightmare 3-1 defeat in Rome.

Chelsea gave the French side a 4-0 hammering at Stamford Bridge and Terry is confident they can bounce back from the disappointment of the Rome game.

"The lads bounced back from the disappointment of Rome with everyone showing a great attitude to give a great performance in Blackburn (a 2-0 win)," said the England skipper.

"Blackburn is a notoriously tough place to go but with the bad weather and Rome behind us, it was an even tougher fixture.

"Rome apart we are not conceding many goals and Nicolas Anelka is on fire, not just with his goalscoring but in his all-round link-up play.

"It is tight at the top both in the Premier and the Champions League, so we cannot afford to slip up.

"The defeat in Rome put a little bit of a bad taste in our mouths and was a bitter reminder that we have to keep on winning until the other teams crumble around us.

"It is not just the management who can be important after a result like the one in Rome, it is all the backroom staff.

"They play a big part in getting us right. Darren, the young chef, brings his guitar along now and sings a few songs. There were a few Elvis Presley numbers played before the Blackburn game."

Although Anelka is in the best form of his Chelsea career, Luiz Felipe Scolari will have Didier Drogba available for the Bordeaux match even though he is serving a domestic suspension.

But it is the timely return of Germany midfielder Michael Ballack that has team-mate Deco drooling.

Ballack played half-an-hour as a substitute in the 3-0 win over West Brom last week and is set to start against the French side.

"It is good for us to have him back because he is a great, great player," said Deco.

"We need more players because we are playing many games and have some injuries.

"It is difficult to play against him because he is a strong player, very competitive and experienced. I have played against him three or four times for Portugal."

The Drog Returns Again!

Didier Drogba is set to return to the Chelsea side as they prepare to face Champions League opponents Bordeaux on Wednesday. The Ivorian has missed the first match in a three game ban that was imposed after he threw a coin into the crowd during the Carling Cup match at Stamford Bridge in which Chelsea were beaten by Burnley.

However, the ban does not apply to European matches and, after Chelsea could only stutter to a goal-less draw last Saturday against Newcastle, manager Phil Scolari will be hoping that Drogba will give his attack the bite that they lacked in the league game.

His team mate Florent Malouda has spoken in support of Drogba's return saying: It will be a good thing for us because with what is happening now. I think he will be angry and show he has things to do for the team."

The French winger continued: "Didier is the type of player who can find a solution when you play these teams but as you can see Nicolas Anelka is doing well at this moment."

He added: "We had the players and the mentality to reach victory against Newcastle but we have to keep on trying and we hope the next game at home will find the solution."

Chelsea will need record 97 points to win league title, says Luiz Felipe Scolari

Chelsea only head Liverpool on goal difference despite having dropped just seven points from the opening 13 games of the season.

And manager Scolari believes it will take a record-breaking campaign to guarantee Chelsea their third title in five years in his debut season in charge.

The Brazilian, who spoke glowingly of the harmony inside his squad, said: "We know that if we want to win the Premier League, we need to win 85 per cent of the points on offer.

"We have a focus for the Premier League games. Three points is important for every game. But we have a good balance and the players know this.

"After the games we lost, we showed the players why we lost and they tried to change that for the next game. In each case, in the next game we have played well."

Scolari's 85 per cent target equates to 97 points over the season, two more than Jose Mourinho's Blues side accrued to set the current record mark and take their first title in 2005. After Manchester United's 2-1 defeat at Arsenal, which has left them languishing eight points behind Chelsea and Liverpool, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said: "We have got to get above 85 points to have a chance of winning the league, so we must keep going for it."

Chelsea are behind the schedule set for them by Scolari, although back-to-back wins over Newcastle today and Bolton next week would take them within a fraction of the target figure.

Scolari added: "I need to look at the schedule again. After we have played Newcastle and Bolton I will have a better idea about the points we have and what we wanted to have. I will tell you then."

The Brazilian, however, was far more emphatic about the value of a squad willing to exchange views and opinions without it descending into damaging acrimony.

And while he pointedly insisted he was not referring to Arsenal, Arsene Wenger or William Gallas, the contrast between the sweetness and light he described at Stamford Bridge and the apparent civil war across the capital could not have been more evident.

Scolari, set to have Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Ashley Cole and Petr Cech all back this afternoon, added: "Having a good atmosphere in the squad is 50 per cent, minimum, of what you need to win a game, because if that atmosphere is not good, you start the game in a bad situation.

"It is something the players create between themselves and with me and my staff. But once it is there it is easy." Scolari insisted that, for all his image as a hardliner, he actually encourages argument between his players - but only when it is for constructive purposes, and on the condition that nothing is allowed to fester.

"I want the players to speak their minds, to talk between themselves and me, even if it's negative," he added.

"We need to look and talk and think about what has happened, before games, even at half-time. But after they have spoken, it is my time.

"Bad results can create problems.

But what is important is that you've involved the players so they understand one bad result doesn't change our focus.

"In that time what you have to say i s: 'Remember, remember, remember; OK, go'. I'm the man who needs to decide what happens."

Scolari said he had been in such situations many, many times, but that he was happy for players to speak their minds as long as they did not breach his code of respect for the structure of the club.

"Sometimes you give the players the chance to say something and they go too far," he explained. "Then we need to say: 'Look, the position is this'.

"I am a coach, and at times I am a friend or a father too, because I am older than them and have had more experiences.

"But when I am a coach, I need to be able bring a player into my office and tell him the way we have to follow and if it is required, to say: 'You are wrong; out'. My job is to solve the problem and finish it."

LAST 11 WINNING POINTS TOTALS
2007-08: MAN UTD 87PTS
2006-07: MAN UTD 89PTS
2005-06: CHELSEA 91PTS
2004-05: CHELSEA 95PTS
2003-04: ARSENAL 90PTS
2002-03: MAN UTD 83PTS
2001-02: ARSENAL 87PTS
2000-01: MAN UTD 80PTS
1999-00: MAN UTD 91PTS
1998-99: MAN UTD 79PTS
1997-98: ARSENAL 78PTS

Chelsea VS Newcastle United

VS

Chelsea face Newcastle at home on Saturday with some of the injured players making a comeback this weekend, while others still sit and wait. Cole and Cech are confirmed, Lampard is a very slight doubt. Ballack is back, but the newly returned Drogba is banned for 3 matches and won't be making an appearance until December.

With 6 players still out with injuries, the bench line is looking rather sparse. But the squad is full of talent.

So what will the starting line look like? Here's my prediction.


Cech
Bosingwa - Ivanovic - Terry - Bridge
Mikel
Lampard - Deco
Cole - Anelka - Malouda


Bench: Cudicini, Ferreira, Mineiro, Sinclair, Ballack, Kalou, Woods

Newcastle at times has proven difficult, and Chelsea has struggled at home at times, although the last Premier League match at Stamford Bridge had a fantastic result. So here's hoping that the boys can keep the momentum going.

My Verdict: A win of course

EPL 2008-09 Season: English life suits Scolari but Chelsea come first

LONDON: Luiz Felipe Scolari has quickly grown to love life in England but the Chelsea manager has put sight-seeing to the back of his mind as he tries to keep the Londoners on top of the English Premier League.
Scolari and his family have settled well in their new home near Chelsea's training ground in leafy Cobham, south of London, but the Brazilian has made only a handful of trips into the capital because he is so focused on winning silverware this season.

Like Arsene Wenger, who once claimed he only knew the way to Arsenal's stadium, training ground and Heathrow airport, Scolari is too consumed by success to worry about trips to Big Ben and the Tower of London.

That didn't change this week ahead of Newcastle's visit to Stamford Bridge today, even though he had only a handful of players to work with due to the international friendlies.

"My life in England is a normal life as a coach. I have more time for the club, for training, and I spend some time with the family when I have time for this," he said.
"My family like to stay in England, my son is studying at a beautiful, big school and he visited some more places than me and has more friends.

"London? No, I have visited three or four times when I was free with my family, but when I go to London it is to play at Stamford Bridge!"

Scolari has more pressing concerns as he waits to see whether Frank Lampard and goalkeeper Petr Cech can shakes off their injuries.

Seven other first team players are expected to be out of action too, as Alex, Joe Cole, Juliano Belletti, Ricardo Carvalho, Michael Essien, Ashley Cole and Franco Di Santo are all still struggling.

With a third of the season now played, the signs are looking good for the Blues.

Didier Drogba was wrong, but blame the fan

Chelsea striker deserves to be punished but whoever threw coin at Stamford Bridge is real villain of the piece

All the talk is about how long Didier Drogba's ban should be and that's taking the focus away from the person who started the whole thing - the fan who threw the coin at him.

There's no doubt Drogba was irresponsible and deserves to be punished by the FA, though not in my opinion the police. But it would be ridiculous if he paid a heavier penalty than David Norris, the Ipswich Town player who made the “handcuffs” sign in support of Luke McCormick, the goalkeeper who was sent to prison for causing the deaths of two kids in a car accident. That idiotic gesture must have been premeditated on some level while Drogba's was spontaneous. To me, Norris's behaviour was worse.

Incidents of players abusing fans, as the Chelsea striker did, are very rare while week in, week out, footballers are on the receiving end of disgusting abuse. It's human nature that occasionally some will crack. I certainly did a couple of times in my playing days. When Eric Cantona karate-kicked that Crystal Palace fan, a lot of players thought: “Good on you, Eric.” No player runs on to the pitch planning to start trouble with supporters, but at every game a percentage of fans turn up intending to dish out verbal abuse or worse.

In my Millwall days in the 1980s, I remember warming up at Upton Park and fans in the Chicken Run terrace were calling out my name for ages until I finally looked round - and 30 of them chorused “w***er”. Apparently they used to do it to someone every week, like it was their hobby. Grown men.

During a game at The Den, David Byrne, our winger, told a Millwall fan who was running along the terrace and giving him stick to “f*** off”. The fan took out a knife and said he was going to “do him” after the match. David went as white as a ghost.

Footballers don't worry about security arrangements at stadiums, but deep down they know that if a fan really wants to invade the pitch and get at them, he will. It is a shame that Aston Villa were not able to catch the supporter who threw a coin at Harry Redknapp last month and hit an assistant referee. A heavy punishment for that might have made the Burnley supporter think twice.

Drogba is not a popular player. He's done and said some daft things, but he wasn't trying to wind up the Burnley fans - he scored and in the adrenalin rush that followed he probably didn't realise where he was celebrating. He's got a big ego, so he's not the kind of character to laugh off having something chucked at him, spoiling his moment of glory. He reacted because he felt insulted.

Drogba must be held accountable, but he's not the main villain here. Stop fans abusing players and you stop the problem of players being pushed past breaking point.

CHELSEA : Scolari plays down Chelsea's greatness

By Jason Burt in Rome
Tuesday, 4 November 2008

He wrinkled his nose at one invitation to sing his own praises – after Luciano Spaletti, Roma's coach, said Chelsea were currently the "best side in the world" – by declaring there were maybe "10 or even 50" top sides but Luiz Felipe Scolari decided, with a smile, to accept a second opportunity.

Did he, he was asked, like the team hotel that Chelsea were using ahead of tonight's Champions League tie and would he like to book it – now – for the final next May which is also to be played in the cavernous bowl that is the Stadio Olimpico? "If the hotel accepts, we'll book it for me," Scolari said. "If they accept, we'll do that."

The Cavalieri Hotel – a cool £776 a night for a standard room – is indeed one of the most beautiful in this most beautiful of cities and even though Scolari was in playful mood and even though, in truth, it is Uefa, the European governing body, which selects the team hotels for its showpiece game, there is a hard-edged belief to the comment by the Brazilian – of Italian descent, of course, with his father Benjamin hailing from Venice – in wanting to emulate the achievement of reaching last season's final in Moscow.

That was Avram Grant's last match in charge and although Spaletti was touted by some agents as a possible successor, the Italian was never really in the running to pip Scolari to the post. His star, however, has waned. Now Spaletti, after Roma's worst start to a league season in 45 years, and with four consecutive Serie A defeats leaving them fourth from bottom, is clinging to his job. He took time yesterday to praise Chelsea – and perhaps defuse expectation with his players struggling so wretchedly – by lauding the advances that Scolari has made with this talented squad.

"It [Chelsea] is one of the best 10 teams in the world, but not the best. We are one," Scolari said quickly as he anticipated the potential for hubris although there was also a little boast when he declared that he was "more beautiful" than his predecessor. That was in jest, of course, designed to relax Salomon Kalou who was sitting next to him and had been asked how Chelsea this season compared to last. "I was joking with Kalou, because he is shy," Scolari said when urged to expand upon his comment on looks. "I try to make him more free, only this."

Liberation, and a lighter touch, has been his aim so far and despite, by his own admission "one or two games [in which] we haven't played well and we paid for this" it has been a success. "We are playing very well," Scolari said. "But we need to get into more finals, win more finals."

The big one is this one and a victory this evening in Group A would probably see Chelsea through to the knock-out stages although they will have to perform without Ashley Cole. After a scan the left-back has been diagnosed with a small tear to his calf, which also rules him out of Sunday's league meeting with Blackburn Rovers. Injuries have had to be accepted by Scolari, who has coped brilliantly with depleted resources and will continue with Nicolas Anelka in attack this evening as Didier Drogba is still some way short of match sharpness with the suspicion lingering that he is not central to Scolari's plans.

For so long he was Chelsea's talisman and Roma may well spring a surprise by including their own, Francesco Totti, who trained yesterday and declared himself fit despite fears that the inflammation on his knee, a legacy of surgery last season, would rule him out. Roma need him.

Chelsea's last visit to this city came in the first flush of Roman Abramovich's ownership when they thrillingly brushed aside Lazio, who share the stadium, 4-0. Such is Chelsea's prowess that they could easily repeat that scoreline tonight as they attempt to give themselves the chance to book a place – if not yet a hotel – for the Eternal City next May.

Roma (4-1-4-1, probable): Doni; Cicinho, Panucci, Mexes, Riise; De Rossi; Taddei, Brighi, Pizarro, Vucinic; Totti.

Chelsea (4-1-4-1, probable): Cech; Bosingwa, Alex, Terry, Bridge; Mikel; J Cole, Deco, Lampard, Malouda; Anelka.

Referee: L Medina Cantalejo (Spain).