Welcome back Di Matteo!!

This morning Andre Villas Boas was officially unveiled as Chelsea's manager in a press conference, in which he also revealed his backroom staff.  The most notable addition to coaching staff is that of Roberto Di Matteo.  The former West Brom manager, a Chelsea legend will be returning to the club as AVB's assistant.  On hearing this news, I was quite pleased and I am sure that this will be the start of an exciting era for Chelsea. 

Di Matteo, spent a six year period playing in the blue shirt, before his early retirement due to injury in 2002 at the age of just 31.  He is most notably remembered from his playing career at Chelsea for his cup final goals.  As Chelsea supporters we can never forget his record breaking goal in just 43 seconds at the old Wembley in the 1997 FA Cup final, which helped us win our first trophy after many years.  Follwing on from that he also scored in the 1998 Coca-Cola Cup final (League cup) and scored the last ever cup final goal at the old wembley in the 2000 FA Cup final.  Unfortunately he had to retire early due to injury, but since then he has tried his hand at coaching and football management. 

Di Matteo started his managerial career at MK Dons, and after doing a decent job for them he was appointed West Brom's manager in 2009.  He led them to promotion to the premier league in just his first season in charge after finishing second place in the Championship.  However, he was sacked from as West Brom manager halfway through the 2010/2011 season, as the club were not happy with the performances.  However, in my view I think he did a very good job at West Brom by getting them promoted and by putting on decent performances in their first season back in the Premier League.  It is in my view that perhaps his sacking as West Brom manager was not justifiable.  However, what's done is done, and everything happens for a reason, and it is for this reason that we can welcome him back to Stamford Bridge!

In August 2010, when he returned to Stamford Bridge as West Brom's manager we would never have even imaged that he would reurn to work at Chelsea within a year.  At that time, we were still on top of the world after our double winning season and we wouldnt have even thought Carlo would be gone come what May, let alone Di Matteo returning as coach.  I believe that he will prove pivotal for success in the AVB era, and we can look forward to a promising season at Chelsea.  I for one was glad Di Matteo being given assistant role, rather than Emenalo being given that title.  However, I have a feeling Emenalo will still stay at the club under some capacity.  Additonaly, Steve Holland, the successful reserve team coach has been promoted to first team coach at Chelsea.

AVB has reinterated that it will not be a one man show, and it will be a group effort to bring success at Chelsea, and he is certianly right about that.  We have got the right people now in charge of the team, and I am certainly looking forward to the new season!

UP THE CHELS!

The Andre Villas Boas era begins!

After much speculation over the last few weeks, and after Andre-Villas Boas's resignation as Porto manager yesterday, he has been appointed as Chelsea's new manager.  This morning, an official club statement on the website said the following:

"Chelsea Football Club is delighted to announce that Andre Villas-Boas will be the club's new manager.

He has signed a three-year contract and will start work immediately.

Andre was the outstanding candidate for the job. He is one of the most talented young managers in football today and has already achieved much in a relatively short space of time. His ambition, drive and determination matches that of Chelsea and we are confident Andre's leadership of the team will result in greater successes in major domestic and European competitions.

Andre will bring his coaching experience back to a club he is already very familiar with, having previously worked here for three years. He has always been highly regarded at Chelsea and everyone here looks forward to welcoming him back and working with him."

At just 33, Andre Villas Boas becomes one of our youngest ever managers, and at the start of the season he will be the same age as both Drogba and Lampard.  In what is his second spell at the club, having previously worked under Mourinho as a scout, he joins after a hugely successful season with Porto, having won the treble in his first full year of management.  AVB is one of the brightest  prospects in football management, and hopefully he will be the right man to lead us to success both domestically and in Europe!

Comparisons have been made between AVB and Mourinho, which is hardly suprising as AVB learnt his trade under the guidence of Jose before taking his own posts in mangement.  However, Andre has been successfull in his own right, and despite him being dubbed the new Mourinho, we should move away from that as I am sure AVB will bring his own style of play and success which was evident at Porto.    


Could he be our 'new special one' ?.....who knows, but it is sure to be an exciting season!

Now that we finally have a manager in place, we need to get active in the transfer market and start preparing for next season, which pre season only 3 weeks away.  Roll on next season!


Welcome back to Chelsea Andre Villas Boas!!   

It all begins at the Britannia Stadium!

This morning the fixture list for the 2011/2012 season was released, and the countdown to next season begins now!  JT and the boys begin the season with a tough match away to Stoke on the opening day on 13th August.  This is followed by two home games against West Brom and newly promoted Norwich.  With our first few home games we will be looking to gain maximum points and will be hoping for a repeat of last season's opening day win over West Brom when we put six goals past the Baggies.

Our first big test of the season comes early on, with a trip to Old Trafford in September and this time round we will be looking to avenge our defeats at the tail end of last season, with the return fixture at Stamford Bridge in February.  Trips to newly promoted Norwich and Swansea come back to back in January, and personally I am looking forward to these as they will be new away trips for this season.    

The season comes to an end at home to Blackburn, when we will be hoping to see JT lift the title again, following on from a trip to Anfield in the penultimate game of the season.  This  has echos of the 2009/2010 when we all but won the title in the historic double winning season with a victory at Anfield in the second last game of the season.  If we do the same in May 2012, it will certainly be a good end to the season.

Our managerial situation may still not have been resolved, but with the release of the fixtures, we can safely say that the excitement for next season has begun.  Regardless of whatever outcome there is to next season, we are all eager for it to get started, and it is safe to say that in two months time we will be back in our blue shirts, in our usual pre-match boozers down the Fulham Road and in our seats at Stamford Bridge!

Roll on next season :)

For those of you that want to look the part for next season, the SW17 Chelsea Supporters Group T-Shirts will be available soon, for more information visit our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SW17ChelseaSG