Of friends, Relationships and telling all

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Of friends, Relationships and telling all

It’s enough to convey he’s handling his business, period!

You never know who might want to 'sample the goods' after hearing rave reviews.

 

 

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Mike Emenalo: Debunking the Myth

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Mike Emenalo: Debunking the Myth

Mike Emenalo offered to resign a few days ago to 'facilitate' Jose Mourinho's return to Chelsea. Abrahomich would have none of it!

Why is Abramovich in love with Mike Emenalo and what does he actually do?

His Role: Technical Director

-a vital role that will assist the overall long-term football strategy of the club

He : 1. SUPPORTS the work of the first team manager 2. leads the club's international and domestic scouting network (Head of Development & Scouting) 3. He assists in driving the technical programmes of the club's Academy and international youth network.

He is also, crucially, not a full member of the Football Club Board again ( unlike Grant and Arnesen in the heady days of the past)

Why does he have the ears of Abramovich?- Emenalo also has a liaison role between the manager and the board and, infamously, between the manager and the owner himself ( some have regarded this as acting as Roman's spy or the Manager reporting to him)

Emenalo is simply the go-between guy. Abramovich doesn't have to speak to the Manager and vice versa.

The more mysterious Mike Forde is the Director of Football and is on Football Club Board . He is responsible for all areas of performance and team operations relating to the first team, including player recruitment; medical, sport science, psychology and performance analysis.'

On paper this is a more senior role to that of Emenalo.

Emenalo- July 2011:

''The FINAL DECISIONS about who comes in and who doesn't will be the MANAGER'S to make but to arrive at that stage there will be a lot of working together ( collective process) and I would imagine I will be part of that process of working together to make that happen.''

The Emenalo-Forde recruitment strategy has been largely successful.

Emenalo's scouts find the player, Forde's guys do the sport science mumbo jumbo. For clarity, here are the facts; since Emenalo and Forde both assumed their current roles in July 2011, the club has spent just under £170m on 18 first team players (and first team prospects) and, taking a cursory look, only Marko Marin (£6.5m) and Ulises Davila (£1.8m) are probably worth less now than when Chelsea bought them. All of the other players have appreciated in value - some very significantly (including Courtois, Lukaku, Mata, Cahill, De Bruyne, Thorgan Hazard and Azpilicueta).

So, what does Jose Mourinho have to fear from working with Emenalo and Forde? Nothing! There's a better structure, everybody knows their job description, Mourinho's responsibilities are less, and nobody is usurping anybody's duties ( unlike during his first stint at Chelsea or his power tussle with Valdano at Real)

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Counterintuitive Chick logic

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Counterintuitive Chick logic

Chicks will stir cocoa with a dude they aren’t interested in but will block a guy they actually like.

If a chick really likes you, she’ll tell you to wait for it and earn it, while Big Black Muftau (AKA Murphy) from that tough part of town texts her with the “come over” and she’s ready to hit the streets for some Cocoa stirring!

 

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Of Titanic, Deck chairs and Relationships

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Of Titanic, Deck chairs and Relationships

What's the point in rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic?. That ship is going down anyway!

 

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ROBBEN: PERSONAL REDEMPTION

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ROBBEN: PERSONAL REDEMPTION!!!!!

This is how to react to criticisms: win the match!!

Arjen Robben was the match winner for Bayern Munich in the final of the Champions League at Wembley today. He scored the all important second goal in the dying minutes.

This is personal redemption as he was the most vilified player last year- having missed a penalty in extra time ( a prequel to Bayern's eventual loss to Chelsea in Munich)

 

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL: BAYERN OR DORTMUND?

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL: BAYERN OR DORTMUND?

Who wins tomorrow? -25th May 2013

Check out the beautiful links below:

Dortmund Road to Wembley

Dortmund's 'Romantic' Story

Dortmund Amazing facts

Bayern Road to Wembley

How Germany became Über Cool again

 

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CHELSEA: 2012/13 SEASON REVIEW

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CHELSEA: 2012/13 SEASON REVIEW

 

Words to describe this season- WHAT WAS THE BOARD THINKING!?!!!

Thin squad, so many players out on loan, 8 competitions, only one striker ( Torres) effectively till January 2013 ( when Ba joined), sacked club legend (RDM) and replaced with someone reviled by the fans, Rafa Benitez! What else could go wrong!! 69 games in total

Indeed players like Oscar have played more than 90 games (he's been playing an average of a game per week) since October 2012. Mata and Hazard are not far behind!! It is amazing that none of the trio has picked up a major injury since then ( Hazard missed the last 2 games with a thigh strain though)

The Lows-

Damn!! There were too many of these

Losing the Community Shield to Man City - 2-3 - the score line flattered us 'cos we were simply outplayed. Losing Ivanovic to a sending off didn't help. Indeed City was the superior side in the 4 meetings this year. They are on our 'To do' list for next season

Losing the UEFA SuperCup to Athletico Madrid- 1-4

We were humbled in this match. No, we were embarrassed. Chelsea was sluggish while Athletico were spritely. Gabi, Arda Turan and Adrian López supplied the jabs while Falcao delivered the killer blows- a hat trick delivered with ruthless aplomb. It should have been the reality check that RDM and his boys needed, It wasn't!

This was perhaps due to the bright start to the EPL

Losing 0-3 to Juve- CL Group stage

This effectively put paid to RDM's career as a Chelsea manager. Again our deficiencies were exposed with ease by a well- drilled side. It's difficult to say what part not starting Torrees played in his eventual sacking

Employing Rafa Benitez

A lot has been said about this 'brain fart' of a decision by the Board, so I'm not going to dwell on it anymore

His earlier stats at Chelsea were abysmal!

“His first 21 matches in charge have yielded the worst winning percentage of any of the Abramovich era managers.” Laughable cup performances, late-match collapses, inert tactics, head-scratching post-match comments, even worse substitutions and in-game management, and a measured drop in league performance -holding vouchers for free points for visitors to Stamford Bridge!!

Sissoko'd or Diame'd or Lambert'd or Puncheon'd or QPR'd or Le Fondre'd or Ivanovic'd or ballboy'd under Rafa! His Interim status probably prevented him from being sacked. We lost about 16 points from winning positions in the EPL -under Rafa

He had four trophies ( and the EPL title) available to him when he was employed

Here were his opponents:

Monterrey, Corinthians (x), Leeds, Swansea City (x), Southampton, Brentford, Manchester United, Manchester City (x), Sparta Prague, Steaua Bucharest, Rubin Kazan, Basel, Benfica.

Only once did Benitez advance against top draw opposition ( Man Utd), and then Chelsea were immediately knocked out by Man City. To claim that the results were good is blatantly false. To claim that ‘Rafa’s only fault was the team’s shitty performances against lower half teams and pathetic substitutions’ is similarly strange; his greatest fault was and remains a dogmatic adhesion to a team shape that suits a grand total of one player-Torres!! ( he may just have been obeying his Boss on this)

People are 'at pains' to say that Rafa’s job was to make Top Four but that’s not true. That became the objective only once he’d put Top Four in jeopardy-a situation created from losing/drawing to the likes of QPR, Reading, Southampton, West Ham, Newcastle, Swansea

He did steer the team to the Europa title though

Did I say I wasn't going to dwell on it. Okay, I lied!! Now, sue me!!

Losing the Club World Cup 0-1 to Corinthians

Who goes all the way to Japan, plays 2 matches and still come back empty- handed - losing to a very average Corinthians in the process?? Rafa!

Getting eliminated from the Group stage of the CL-as defending Champs

This sucks big time. It was a tough group but drawing 2-2 at home to Juventus (in a match we were leading 2-0) ultimately cost us. That's all I'm going to say about that.

Losing a two-legged semi final Capital One Cup tie to Swansea 0-2

This still sucks 'cos the boys just didn't play like they cared. The first leg was a low point in Ivanovic's career- he gifted Swansea both goals. Hazard also managed to get red-carded for kicking a ball from beneath a ballboy!!

Losing in the semi final of the FA Cup to Man City 1-2

City again!!! We were bullied for 60 mins in this game. A late rally was too little too late. Wigan got the last laugh though! One word- Schadenfreude!! *wicked laugh*

Finishing 14 points behind the eventual EPL Champs- Man Utd

Still scratching my head to find meaning in this- particularly 'cos the Utd team was a very average one. Never Again!!

The highs

Winning the Europa League Cup

It eventually turned out to be the only silverware in a poor season

Kudos to Chelsea for turning this lemon to Lemonade! Would we like to defend it? Thanks, but no thanks!!

Beating Man Utd 3ce and Outplaying them 4 times this season

It was more than enough consolation for the 'robbery' at Stamford Bridge- abetted by a certain Mark Clattenburg earlier in the season.

One word- Woof!!

The future-

Abramovich is reported to be ready to splurge the cash again this summer- a £100million War Chest

Priorities

A new Manager, Central Midfielder, One or two top-class strikers, Recall the Kraken, Romelu Lukaku and give a few Academy players a chance in the first team ( eg Capital One Cup)

If Lukaku is recalled ( please, please, don't send this lad on loan again) then we need to buy only one striker. I don't think we'll be able to sell Torres with his high wages and Ba is still a decent addition.

Manager- it has to be Jose Mourinho now init? Florentino Perez has announced that he is leaving Real Madrid at the end of this season. Madrid was mission unaccomplished, this makes for a very hungry -for -more -success man. A good thing for Chelsea. Age should have dampened that itinerant itch, his family loves London and his second coming has to be for the long haul.

Players we should possibly buy-

Strikers - Torres scored a total of 1 goal in the EPL ( since December 2012) This alone tells the story of our season in the Striker's department .How we ended up starting this busy campaign with only him is not only baffling, but deeply worrying!!

This great faux pax must be corrected this summer. On Chelsea's radar should be- Robert Lewandowski, Edison Cavani and Radamel Falcao. I don't really care who we buy out of this lot. I just don't want Torres to be our main striker next season. ( he was decent in theEuropa league but he's not just good enough to be Chelsea's main man)

Central Midfielder - Our pivot is weak in our preferred 4-2-3-1 . Both Ramirez and Mikel have been found wanting in this critical position. We need a player in the mold of Bayern's Javi Martinez- imposing his physicality on the game with a dominant midfield performance. Rarely losing the ball and with an eye for a pass and the odd goal. Neither of our current duo tick all these boxes. That's why physical teams got the better of us this season

Fellaini had a blistering start to this season, he could do a job in this role too.

Or perhaps Xabi Alonso/Sami Khedira will come with Mourinho from Madrid

The David Luiz experiment in the midfield should stop. He is a CB, full stop. I'm not sold on Gary Cahill yet- he plays with a lot of heart but he doesn't look like very intelligent defender- in the mode of Hummels. Such defenders who create attacks from the back rather than just hoofing the ball up field. If the CB pairing is not often rotated perhaps the stability will ensure that we concede less goals.

Luke Shaw-I love this Southampton wizzkid and he'd be a decent understudy for Cole at LB.

Players that should leave-Paolo Ferreira, Florent Malouda, Marko Marin. Yossi Benayoun, Ross Turnbull, Henrique Hilario,

Players that should be sent on loan- Oriol Romeu, Josh McEachran, Andreas Christensen and Ruben Loftus-Cheek ( the latter duo are academy players who have impressed alongside Nathan Ake this season) Ake deserves more chance in the first team

I don't really fancy Andre Schurrle and I'm gutted that we are losing Kevin De Bruyne to Dortmund. But if this means we get a first mention for Lewandowski, then Woof!!

This was a season of transition, next season should be about consolidation. Blues for life!!

 

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Of FFP, the football Agent, Bosman's Lawyer and the ECJ

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Of FFP, the football Agent, Bosman's Lawyer and the ECJ

FFP -is a joint agreement between clubs to limit their freedom to hire players by restraining their ability to spend on wages and transfers.

FFP likely constitutes collusion and hence a violation of EU competition law. This restraint of free competition may at the same time constitute a violation of other EU freedoms such as the free movement of workers and services

FFP's break-even rule makes no allowance for the commercial disparities between individual national leagues, which means smaller clubs are hit harder, proportionately, than larger ones. Without the ability to invest in their longer-term success, smaller clubs will stay small. This is clearly anticompetitive.

The ECJ ( European Court of Justice) and the seminal Bosman ruling are going to be the scourge of FFP 'cos:

1. FFP breaks antitrust laws.

2. It threatens the source of income of high profile football agents

( Uefa's FFP faces a legal challenge in the European courts after a players' agent [Daniel Striani] argued the rules will unfairly restrict the amount of money he can earn)

More significantly, Striani is represented by Jean Louis-Dupont, a lawyer who in 1995 successfully challenged football's contract rules on behalf of a Belgian player, Jean-Marc Bosman!!

Y'all know never to underestimate the power of greed. In the words of Michael Douglas ( in the movie, Wall Street) "Greed is Good!!!"

Winning- that's what football’s all about. NOT top four finishes, financial parity, but WINNING STUFF and enjoying it.

Having said that, Not winning is acceptable occasionally. Not challenging is not

So fans of that club, which keeps on sitting on that moral high ground, should hope that their club spend this summer and start genuinely challenging again! Otherwise they'd the sorely disappointed if they think FFP will come to their rescue!

 

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EUROPA CUP FINAL- BENFICA: A 'voyeur's' lenses

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EUROPA CUP FINAL- BENFICA: A 'voyeur's' lenses

Manager: Jorge Jesus

He will attempt to outwit Chelsea's Rafael Benítez as Portugal's most glamorous club strive to win their first European prize for 51 years. ( they've lost five European Cup finals since their last triumph in 1962)

Jesus divides opinion ( no pun intended)

He is prickly and eccentric. You never know what you'll get with him-mercurial or mundane in team selection. Losing key players annually ( eg Di Maria, David Luiz, Javi Martinez, Coentrao) - a way of life at Benfica ( and other top clubs)-has not helped

How his team plays:

"They've got a lot of flair and pace, very progressive full-backs and varied attacking options. Benfica are difficult to contain and a real threat on the counter-attack."

Key players:

Nemanja Matic, Oscar Cardozo, Nicolas Gaitan, Ezequiel Garay

Problems:

The twin demands of pursuing European and domestic glory appear to be stretching Jesus's personnel to their limit, as their once apparently unassailable lead at the top of the Primeira Liga has, almost imperceptibly, dwindled away and they now stand second, one point behind Porto with one game remaining.

Put simply, they've run out of steam and winning the league is not in their hands anymore!

Motivation:

Lifting the curse of Bela Guttmann ( the Hungarian Jew Manager who left acrimoniously after leading the Lisbon side to two successive European Cup triumphs in 1961 and 1962) Guttmann's parting shot: "Benfica will never taste European glory again"

Chelsea fans will hope that the Guttmann curse continues for another year, at least!!

 

 

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Mind Your Language

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Mind Your Language

Culled from a bbc.co.uk article

Grammar is not just an educational issue. For some adults, it can sabotage friendships and even romantic relationships.

The research arm of dating site OKCupid looked at 500,000 first contacts and concluded that "netspeak, bad grammar and bad spelling are huge turn-offs". The biggest passion killers were "ur", "r", "u", "ya" and "cant". Also damaging to online suitors were "luv" and "wat".

"..the Apostrophe Protection Society see "a connection between secure syntax and moral excellence" There's a feeling that if we can maintain grammatical order we can maintain other kinds of order."

"I'd never dream of ruling anyone out because of trivia such as their job, accent, class, or the like. However, grammar and spelling are absolute deal-breakers"- Hannah Betts, Times columnist

Grammar is provocative. But perhaps it's an itch that English speakers need to scratch.

Check out the rest of this interesting piece here

 

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SAF- fitting end to a glorious managerial career

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SAF- fitting end to a glorious managerial career

No matter what team you support you've got to respect this man!!

"My retirement doesn’t mean the end. I will now be able to enjoy watching them, rather than suffer with them!”

#LEGEND

 

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FA Cup final: Aguero's boots

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FA Cup final: Aguero's boots

Any dude that wears this kind of boots in a football match, deserves to be on the losing side, Cup final or not!! Hehehehe

 

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Olivia Pope- Earn Me!!

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Olivia Pope- Earn Me!!

If you're not watching Shonda Rhimes' Scandal, you're sitting on a long thing!!

Last night, Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) started some sort of Twitter Revolution of the Side Chicks

Olivia issued a challenge heard round the world to President Fitz: "I am not a toy you can play with when you’re bored or lonely or horny. I am not the girl the guy gets at the end of the movie. I am not a fantasy. If you want me, EARN ME!!"

.....and every mistress in the world hollered: PREACH!!

 

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