Chelsea Latest Gossip News!

Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has hinted that his future may not be at Stamford Bridge. (The Sun)

Chelsea boss Luis Felipe Scolari is lining up a £10m bid for Marseille midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa. (Daily Mirror)

Chelsea are also keen on Heskey, whose Wigan contract ends in the summer. (Daily Telegraph)

Chelsea striker Florent Malouda is being linked to a move with Bayern Munich. (Daily Telegraph)

Fulham 2-2 Chelsea

ANOTHER draw from a possible win with a late goal from Fulham's Dempsey in the dying minutes of the game. That leaves Chelsea trailing behind Liverpool with 3 points and Manchester United hot on our heels chasing up with 3 games in hand.

Chelsea started the game trailing a goal behind all the way through the first half. But Chelsea held the ball and kept pushing Fulham and in the second half, it paid off. Chelsea's vice captain Frank Lampard scored the equalizer and another goal to make it Fulham 1-2 Chelsea. It looked like Chelsea was complacent with the one goal lead and they kept losing the ball carelessly and Scolari was seen angry with the players for not keeping hold of the ball. Then, in the dying minutes, Fulham won a corner and Clint Dempsey headed in for his second goal of the night!

DON'T be upset Chelsea fans of Brunei because this is not the end of the premiership race yet. There is a long way to go and anything can change! UptheBlues!!!!!!

Chelsea Fans Gather @ D Other Office Cafe & Blistro

FRIDAY, 26 December 2008.. Pictures when Chelsea fans in Brunei gather to watch LIVE match Chelsea vs. West Bromwich Albion..

Chelsea 2-0 West Brom

Chelsea enjoyed a near total domination against rockbottom team West Brom with a 2-0 win.

Didier Drogba finally made the starting eleven and what a big impact he was. He scored the first goal in just THREE minutes through a header from a Joe Cole cross. Chelsea's second goal was from Frankie Lampard with a nice skill and a magnificent chip over the keeper. West Brom was never a threat and to be honest, Chelsea could've scored more than two goals but Scott Carson was on form to deny Chelsea from scoring.

Other than that, I was very happy to see Scolari opting to play a 4-4-2 formation and what did I tell ya'? It WORKS! :D A long overdue win at Stamford Bridge!

CHELSEA!! CHELSEA!! CHELSEA!!

Transfer Gossip.

Winger linked with Germany

Chelsea, 14:57, December 23, 2008

Bayern Munich are ready to make a bid to land Chelsea winger Florent Malouda when the transfer window opens in January.

The Blues French international is believed to have become surplus to requirements in the long-term plans of boss Luiz Felipe Scolari, who is happy to let the player move on.

The 28-year-old has been a long-term target of the German giants and they are willing to pay £8 million to sign him.

Scolari, who does not have much money to spend on new signings, could be willing to let him leave the club to raise funds so he can draft in his own targets when the window opens. (Clubcall.com)
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Blues face midfielder wait

Chelsea, 14:58, December 23, 2008

Chelsea are set to wait until the summer to make a move for Napoli's Slovakian international midfielder Marek Hamsik.

Hamsik has scored seven goals for the former Italian giants this season and has been attracting serious interest from the Blues with a view to a possible January swoop.

However, Napoli have said that Hamsik is not available until the summer so Luiz Felipe Scolari will have to wait until then before he can land his man. The 21-year-old has spent the last four years playing in Italy but only joined Napoli from Brescia at the start of last season.

The Blues will have to pay out around £14million to get their man who has five goals in 18 international appearances. (Clubcall.com)
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Everton 0 - 0 Chelsea

Yet again another frustrating match where we slipped the chance of being top! I woke up early in the morning to watch the game only to find out that DROGBA DID NOT MAKE THE START!

Anyway, here's how the match went. Chelsea did superbly well and made many chances with beautiful passing until JOHN TERRY was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Leon Osman. When John Terry was out, everything started to go wrong and in Everton's favor. To think that Everton didn't have any solid striker (only Tim Cahill the midfielder was upfront as a striker) that we had the best chance to beat them, but we didn't.

To make it worse, the referee was terrible! Phil Dowd is an Ass! He gave away the cards way to cheaply and for nothing! Ballack requested the referee to make sure the wall is in the right position and he BOOKED Ballack for it? Frank Lampard got the yellow card for abusive language, which sometimes in some cases you normally get away with it with just a warning. ASHLEY COLE got a yellow card for what? I don't even know what he did to deserve a yellow card from the ASS in green!

At halftime, Scolari took off Anelka for Drogba and Ivanovic in for Joe Cole. Clearly the substitution made no impact! It was nice to see Drogba and he did win a couple of free kicks and if he started the game with Anelka upfront, I bet we could've seen goals.

BAD NEWS: John Terry will serve an automatic three match ban after receiving a straight red from the ass in black. So that means he will miss against West Brom, Fulham and Southend in the 3rd round of FA Cup.

-Chelseaforever-

Chelsea Fans Come This Friday

To all Chelsea FC fans, you all are welcome to join the 'Chelsea Fans Out' this friday..

CHELSEA vs. West Bromwich (LIVE ON Star Sports)

Date: Friday, 26 December 2008
Time: 8:55 pm
Venue: D' Other Office Cafe & Bistro (Far End of HSBC Serusop)

The manager of D' Office Cafe & Bistro warmly invited us to their cafe and they are planning to make their place as Chelsea Fans Supporters spot to watch Chelsea Live matches.. This is a big opportunity for Chelsea fans in Brunei and hopefully you all will support this...

Lets come together this friday.. The match kickoff early by 9 PM..

More information about this venue visit http://dotherofficecafebistro.blogspot.com/

Everton vs Chelsea (Preview)

Tonight Chelsea will try to regain the top spot against Everton in an away match after Liverpool were held against Arsenal last night in a 1-1 draw.

Chelsea Team News:

No big changes and we are still without Ricardo Carvalho, Michael Essien, Franco Di Santo, Florent Malouda due to injuries. I read in the papers today that Didier Drogba is set to start up front with Nicolas Anelka. Its a deadly combination and a total nightmare for defenders world wide! :D

Chelsea's Starting Eleven:

Cech, Bosingwa, A.Cole, J.Terry, Alex, Deco, Lampard, Mikel, J.Cole, Anelka, Drogba.

Match time:

0355hrs on ESPN LIVE

Don't miss tonight's game! CHELSEA!! CHELSEA!! CHELSEA!!

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW!

Chelsea FC (ENG) v Juventus (ITA)

Villarreal CF (ESP) v Panathinaikos FC (GRE)

Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR) v FC Bayern München (GER)

Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP) v FC Porto (POR)

Olympique Lyonnais (FRA) v FC Barcelona (ESP)

Real Madrid CF (ESP) v Liverpool FC (ENG)

Arsenal FC (ENG) v AS Roma (ITA)

FC Internazionale Milano (ITA) v Manchester United FC (ENG)

Well...well...well! Looks like we will be up against the former boss of Chelsea, Signor Claudio Ranieri of Juventus in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Earlier before, there was an article where Mr. Ranieri rated our Chelsea as the team to avoid and looks like he's unlucky this time! Sorry Mister Ranieri, but we're gonna have to kick you out! :D

As for the other English teams, Mourinho battles again with Sir Alex Fergalicious, Signor Spalletti versus Monsieur Wenger and Juande RAMOS versus Benitez.

Pretty Exciting!

Anelka vs Drogba

Drogba 52% vs. Anelka 47%

Based on the votes that you guys did at this blog, we see that Drogba received more votes than Anelka, but the votes were very close.. It's obvious that Anelka's performance was great recently, but Chelsea can't just rely on him, his performance sometimes not really consistent, but we hope he''s consistent throughout the season.. Drogba still haven't show his real power yet to Chelsea this season, although we saw already the symptoms of his comeback when he scored against CFR Cluj in UEFA CL and he set up the goals by Anelka during the match against West Ham United.. We hope he will make a comeback..

Bolton vs. CHELSEA (Preview)

I’m waiting to see a pounding for Bolton becuase it’s reaction time! We’re back into that loop again. Reactions are nice but I don’t want us to get into the need for reactions so often. If Chelsea win this match, they would have created a top flight record of consecutive number of away wins. This would be the eleventh if they achieve it. That’s a crazy number of away matches to win on the trot, in a very competitive league.

Scolari seems to know that we’re not very strong at home this season and believes that the away record makes up for it. This is what Scolari says about the away record and how to fills in for the home slip-ups:

"I don’t think about the record. We need to recover those three points. We try to win one more game to follow the other clubs in the best position. The players don’t think about records. They’re thinking about finishing first or getting into finals. If we win 20 games away and lose 10 games at home, there’s a record away from home, but it’s all about arriving at the main objective."

In fact, he’s got a point. Though we are not even in the top half of the table in the home league, as long as Chelsea gets more points at the end of the season than any other club, his job is done. Whether you get that from home matches or away matches may not quite matter to him. I’m with him here. That is, as long as he ends on top of the table. Here is an alternative view. Let us swap this season’s home and away statistics. Suppose we have played 8 home games and won them all; played 8 away games with 3 wins, 3 draws and 2 defeats. This is a bit more acceptable, isn’t it? I’m not saying it is ideal but this looks better. After all, this is the same away record Man Utd has this season - 3 wins, 3 draws and 2 defeats. Bolton, our weekend opponents, have scored more away points than our home points in the same number of matches!!

Even if we were to lose points heavily against the top teams, if we are consistent in away matches and in matches where we are favourites to win, we should be there or therabouts. But the thing with Chelsea is, if we don’t end up champions, we see that as a failure.

That’s not being a bitch. Lots and lots of millions have gone into the re-building of this club. The managers are paid a fortune. It’s only fair on Roman’s part to expect the returns. Scolari has already started getting his 6m in paychecks. He is not made to wait until he wins the titles to earn his money. Why should Roman wait for three seasons for a transformation that results in titles. The way competitive football is being run, this has become a norm.

If you ever think that I’m calling for Scolari’ head or something, you’re completely wrong. I never meant anything near that. All I care is that Scolari is aware of the problems and more importantly he is working towards resolving them. To sack a manager mid-season is crazy. We need to give time to see anything work. There are very few people that can bring instant success and we sacked one of them too. Also, the situation now is not something that warrants any such talk. We’re just one point below the table leader. And the table leader here is Liverpool. Remember, Fernando Torres is out for four weeks and Robbie Keane lost his scoring boots.

Talking about today’s match, team selection is fairly easy. Scolari has his stock of eleven players. Don’t expect one change in the list. There will be Anelka. He will score a goal or two against Bolton. He will grin so well that you can count his teeth. The odds for his golden boot will change. You lot will slag me for losing faith on Anelka. These are near certainties. It is certainly not a coincidence that Anelka goes AWOL in the matches that matter and comes back with a bang against Boltons and Blackburns. Oh well, I don’t take Bolton lightly. They are rather doing well of late.

Expect a regulation 2-0 win with Anelka in it. At least we are winning away matches. If we stop winning away matches too, it would be very dangerous for our chances. We’ll have no cards left to play. I hope our away run continues at least until we pick up form at Stamford Bridge.

Sources: http://bluechampions.com/2008/12/06/bolton-vs-chelsea-06-dec-08-1500-uk/

Transfer News! 5th December 2008

INTER LINKED WITH ESSIEN.

Sulley Muntari has urged his club, Inter Milan, to make a move for Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien. Muntari revealed that the player was 'like a brother' to him, and felt that their partnership in the Inter Milan midfield would be a strong one.

Muntari said of his Ghana international team mate: “Essien is like a brother to me.

“When Inter made it known that they were interested, Michael called me up and told me I should agree to the move without any doubt because Jose Mourinho is a great Coach.

“I already enjoy playing alongside Essien in the national side and hopefully he will move here too.” (eyefootball)

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DROGBA AGENT RULES OUT INTER.

Thierno Seydi, Didier Drogba's agent, has denied that the forward met with anyone from Inter Milan last month and insisted that the player wants to stay and fight for his place in the Chelsea first team.

"His priority is to give his best for Chelsea, and he is absolutely not unhappy.

"To talk about a transfer is just not topical, despite everything you hear and read - there is nothing," said Seydi.

It is believed Drogba is not happy with his lack of first-team opportunities at Chelsea after Nicolas Anelka jumped ahead of him in the pecking order. (eyefootball)

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CHELSEA TO SELL MALOUDA?

Chelsea are reportedly ready to offload Florent Malouda. It is understood the club are willing to listen to offers for the winger, who has so far unimpressed since joining a couple of seasons ago for 18 million GBP.

It is believed Chelsea would let Malouda leave for a fee in the region of 8 million, so almost more than half the fee they initially paid for the Frenchman.

It is understood that coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has lost his patience with the player, who seemed to never fully adapt to life in the Premiership, despite arriving with a strong reputation. (eyefootball)

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OTHERS.

Chelsea are considering a loan move for CSKA Moscow's Brazilian striker Vagner Love. (The Independent)

Chelsea are also interested in Wigan striker Amr Zaki and Lyon forward Karim Benzema but may have to offload Wayne Bridge, Florent Malouda and Alex first. (The Independent)

Chelsea are also chasing Fluminense defender Thiago Silva, who claims he has been offered a contract by the Blues. (Daily Mail)

Important Matches in December!

Dec. '08	TIME	Home		Away	VENUE	Competition
Sat. 6	15:00 UK	Bolton	v	Chelsea	Reebok Stadium	English Premier League
Sun. 14	16:00 UK	Chelsea	v	West Ham	Stamford Bridge	English Premier League
Mon. 22	20:00 UK	Everton	v	Chelsea	Goodison Park	English Premier League
Fri. 26	13:00 UK	Chelsea	v	West Brom	Stamford Bridge	English Premier League
Sun. 28	14:00 UK	Fulham	v	Chelsea	Craven Cottage	English Premier League

December matches for Chelsea consists of 2 home games and 3 away games. But the match that I'm looking forward to watch is against West Ham at home. As you all know, West Ham's Boss is Chelsea's Legendary Hero Gianfranco Zola and also backing him up is another Chelsea man Steve Clarke!

Chelsea are currently second in the league and I think the real race has just started with Arsenal finally waking up from sleep and winning against Chelsea. Manchester United like the past seasons usually get red hot from December and all the way to May. Liverpool meanwhile had a good start this season and we all don't know whether their form will continue especially with Torres currently injured.

Despite all that, I think Chelsea is still the big team to beat although currently we're having a little technical problem.. But don't worry, we will win the premier league! :D CHELSEA!!

It's cool..

Another home defeat by the Gooners with the help from Mike Dean and the blind linesman Simon Beck for failing to call Robin Van Persie offside! Anyway, Im not bitter about it and I must congratulate the Gooners for winning at Stamford Bridge for the first time in 4 years! Yep! 4 years!
Don't worry Chelsea fans! The league is still a long way to go.. CHELSEA are still the team to beat! No Doubt about that!

Drogba to Inter Milan?

Ahead of tonight's Chelsea away match with Bordeaux, I was not really shocked to find out that our very own problematic star DIDI DROGBA held a meeting in a posh Italian restaurant in England with Inter's vice president Marco Branca. Also present at the dinner was the special one's agent Jorge Mendes.

Didi Drogba never fails to make the news headline whether he's playing on the field or not! I personally think that its time to let the Ivorian Hitman go since he did less for the team with his antics and injury problem. BIGUPS to Didi for what he did for Chelsea and I can never take that away from him. A true big game player with full of confidence with an ability to destroy any defence and a defender's nightmare. BUT all that is in the past and if its true he's going out, I wish him all the best but if he decides to stay, go on and prove your worth in the 2nd half of the season!

Chelsea 0 - 0 Newcastle

A-WELL-ah~! Not the result that I had expected. I'm a bit frustrated that Chelsea couldn't score but Shay Given was tremendous! Big ups to Joe Kinnear and his boys for getting the draw they wanted and they got it.

Chelsea controlled 70% of the game and they had 33 shots with 9 on goal but none went in. While Newcastle only managed to shoot 2 times with none on goal. That is just how strong our back line is. As for our attacking forwards, it is safe for me to say that we had missed Drogba who in my opinion could change the game the minute he steps in the field! Anelka was good but he had no luck last night.

Anyway, other results included Liverpooh draw, Manure draw, Gooners lost! Others are not important! :D So that means we're still NUMBER ONE BAYBEH!

Up the blues..

Chelsea vs Newcastle PREVIEW

I'M NUMBER ONE!
Newcastle has never won against Chelsea in 22 years and tonight will be no different too. No disrespect to Joe Kinnear and his men but I honestly believe that we are too strong for them. Although I do admire Shola Ameobi and Obafemi Martins because of their strong physical presence and their attacking ability but I'm sure its not enough to shake up KING JOHN TERRY and the rest of Chelsea defenders.

Chelsea line-up, I'm going for:
1.Petr Cech
2.John Terry
3.Ivanovic
4.Bosingwa
5.Bridge
6.Deco
7.Mikel
8.Lampard
9.Malouda
10.J.Cole
11.Nicolas Anelka

The Man to watch:

Who else? The man on form: Nicolas Anelka!! :P

Score Prediction:

I saw ESPN's Football Forecast and what they predicted was a Chelsea win with 2 or 3 goals to none. Well I'm going big on this one, another 5-0 win for the Blues with Nicolas Anelka scoring a hat-trick! (If Im right, then I should be a football pundit!) :D

Tonight the match starts at 11pm! Live on Starsports! Don't miss it!

Drogba has become a liability..

Didier Drogba`s 3 match suspension was inevitable once he`d pleaded guilty. Perhaps it was his guilty plea which saved him a fourth game in the stands, as the sanction for throwing a coin back into the crowd could have been augmented as Drogba flipped the Burnley fans the bird.

Lest we forget, the game in question was Didier`s comeback after an injury. That injury, sustained earlier this season at Cluj, aggravated his recovery … from another knee injury, on which Drogba was operated over the summer break. That operation took place shortly after the Champions League final in Moscow. Lest we forget, during that final, Didier Drogba was shown a straight red card for slapping Manchester United`s Nemanja Vidic.

We`ll pass on the 'outrage` that welcomed how the man talked about this in his autobiography, when he declared that, had he known he was going to get a red card, he would have punched Vidic in the face. However, let us point out that those words were subject to an inquiry. Drogba was not punished for what was surely meant to be a tongue in cheek remark.

Arguably that particular red card cost Chelsea the game. With Drogba off for a completely avoidable red card minutes before the final whistle, Avram Grant had to rearrange the order of the penalty shoot-out takers. Since Anelka was unhappy at going early, John Terry stepped in. The rest is a history that we are still trying to get over.

So let us present a timeline of Drogba`s involvement at Chelsea these last few months. In May, the guy gets sent off in the Champions League final, which is already a disgrace. He played a key role in losing the biggest game in Chelsea`s history. Contrite? No. He starts mouthing off about moving away from Chelsea, flirting with José Mourinho at Inter, not to mention Real Madrid and AC Milan. He also declares that the collection by Marseille supporters to bring him back to the club which propelled him to the spotlights, was 'pathetic`. Presumably the proud and historical French club isn`t big enough for his ego.

In the meantime, Drogba is operated on the knees. He`s off the field for months. Over the summer, unfortunately, no big clubs come in for him. Change of heart, he declares that, actually, he wants to stay at Chelsea. It`s astonishing how the absence of any big-name suitors helps Drogba find his loyalty. As the transfer window slams shut, he is busy with his return to fitness, but somehow finds the time and the effort to publish his autobiography. Actually it`s a new edition of his existing autobiography during which he 'spills the beans` on that Champions League game. What a moment, the Chelsea fans will be queuing around the block for that book.

On his first start of the season, the Champions League game at Cluj, he succumbs to another injury, suffering a relapse that will keep him off the pitch for a good 6 weeks. His return is the fateful game against Burnley.

We are detecting a pattern here, which is that Drogba has become a serious liability for Chelsea. After all, we can also mention some other big games when Drogba`s lack of discipline and self control has costed Chelsea dearly. In September last year, he was sent off in a Premier League match against Fulham. And in February 2005, he was sent off for two yellow cards against Barcelona at the Nou Camp, a game that Chelsea eventually lost. They were winning when he left the pitch.

Of course, we can also cite games when he has been absolutely unplayable. When Chelsea won 1-4 at Liverpool, although Drogba didn`t score, he was the architect of Liverpool`s humbling. Last season, when Chelsea beat Liverpool in the Champions League semi-final, it was Drogba also who put them to the sword. But he also courted controversy by celebrating one of his goals sliding in front of the Liverpool fans. The two goals he scored against Arsenal at The Bridge were a crucial moment last season. We can also remember how his goal against Arsenal in the Carling Cup final were the icing on the cake of a performance that Drogba bossed.

But just as Drogba had one outstanding Chelsea season, when he scored 33 goals during 2006-2007, he`s also had a few mediocre ones. One can try to find mitigating circumstances in the fact that he`s often injured. That adds 'injury-prone` to the problems with the player.

Drogba`s injuries, however, are not entirely his fault, they certainly are not the main problem, which is his lack of discipline. The frequent reds are hardly compensated by a glut of goals, nor is the smell of diving that surrounds the player, and for which he has earned a terrible reputation. Let`s just say that that reputation is not entirely undeserved. We can add to that the fact that the guy is very outspoken, to the extent that he is a disruptive influence on the dressing room. Last season he went on and on about José Mourinho`s departure, and never missed the opportunity to badmouth Chelsea Football Club, his employers. One would think that the £90,000 per week that the same Chelsea FC pay him might earn a modicum of loyalty. Apparently not, they don`t earn the club the right not to be insulted by their own employee. One would also think that a player who is a highly intelligent man would understand that throwing a coin back into the crowd was a pretty stupid idea for which he would get into trouble.

And now we have got to the stage where the player goes from red card to injury to another injury to a red card over 6 months, with one goal scored in the process. He`ll be out for another 3 weeks now.

Can Chelsea afford to have such a liability on their books, or should they try to offload as soon as possible?

Drogba faces a THREE match ban.

DIDIER DROGBA has admitted an FA charge of violent conduct for throwing a coin at Burnley fans.

The 30-year-old reacted angrily when he was subjected to a torrent of abuse after opening the scoring for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Phil Scolari's side were eventually dumped out of the Carling Cup on penalties and Drogba immediately apologised for his moment of madness.

But the Blues striker is likely to be handed a three-match ban when the FA regulatory commission meets tomorrow.

A statement from Chelsea confirmed: "Didier Drogba has responded to the FA's charge of violent conduct and will not contest it."

The other Michael, Michael Mancienne!

After being called into the England squad, Michael Mancienne is naturally, as all footballers are in such circumstances, over-the-moon.

The Sun newspaper had widely tipped Mancienne as a surprise inclusion on Saturday morning and when it came to fruition Michael was eager to explain his feelings remarking,

"It is a great honour and a dream come true."

"It is the dream of every boy to play for their country and it is fantastic to be in the squad."

"I was focussed on being in the U21 squad so this was great news."

"Just being around the squad will be superb."

Our congratulations go to Michael on achieving the first part of a dream, here`s hoping he gets the opportunity to shine in Berlin.

Nicolas Anelka is our #1 Striker!

Luiz Felipe Scolari sets the record straight, or does he?

As the nation gets ready to greet the inevitable announcement, by the FA, that Didier Drogba will be tarred and feathered (because the public naturally gets what they want) for his despicable behaviour on Wednesday evening; Nicolas Anelka continues to go from strength to strength.

Another excellent brace of goals have cemented his place at the top of the scoring charts in the Premier League and he remains the man firmly in possession of the centre forward shirt.

His performances in the last three games would suggest that Anelka has finally got to grips with life at Stamford Bridge and is comfortable in his surroundings. Luiz Felipe Scolari certainly thinks so and has, after the match, spoken out about how highly he rates Anelka, remarking,

"Is he our number one striker? Yes, because he has played every game."

"He is more confident and he is a player who operates not only inside the area but can receive the ball outside it and work quickly. Mow with this confidence he arrives more times in front of goal and he is scoring more."

Moving on to discuss the imminent return of Drogba, post tar and feathering, Scolari continued,

"Of course he and Didier can play together, once we have time to work with them on the training ground."

That`s quite possibly true Mr Scolari but we beg you not to shove Anelka out wide where he`ll be wasted.

With Liverpool and Manchester United having won (and Arsenal surprisingly lost), the visit to West Brom took on new significance this evening.

Chelsea knew that three points was a must if they wanted to leap above Liverpool in the table and keep the challenges of Manchester United and Arsenal at bay.

And that is exactly what they did with another emphatic score-line.

Team News - With Petr Cech having aggravated a muscle problem Carlo Cudicini was given the keepers jersey. Elsewhere there were recalls for Jose Bosingwa, Nicolas Anelka, John Terry, Frank Lampard and John Mikel Obi all of whom didn`t make the starting eleven for the Carling Cup defeat at the hands of Burnley in midweek.

On the bench was a host of talent including bad-by Didier Drogba and returning from injury Ashley Cole and Michael Ballack.

First Half - The first half saw Chelsea go into the break with a three goal lead but for the first thirty minutes, if you were honest, it was hard to differentiate between the sides.

Albion played with a vigour that belied their status as the bottom team in the Premier League whilst Chelsea resembled a boxer who was perhaps sizing the opponent up before striking.

In that first thirty minutes, too many passes went astray and too many attempts on goal were lacklustre and wayward. But, in the 34th minute that all changed.

Jose Bosingwa, keen to get forward as ever, crashed home a glorious strike from just outside the box and the goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of Albion.

Four minutes later Anelka made it 2-0 with a neat finish from just inside the box, after a defensive error and in injury time he slotted one past Carson for his second of the game.

At 3-0 there looked to be no way back for Albion especially considering that Chelsea had only let in that goal from Robinho away from home all season and had yet to concede a goal in the second half in any Premier League fixture.

Also, that record of ten successive Premier League victories looked to be ours for the taking.

Second Half - Three goals down the second half was always going to be a damage limitation exercise for the home side and Chelsea, but for some woeful finishing, could (and should) have doubled their tally for the night.

Anelka, chasing a hat-trick, saw opportunities go begging whilst Malouda and Kalou seemed to have left their shooting boots at home. With the half drawing to an inevitable conclusion Scolari made a few changes with Ballack coming on for Kalou, Drogba for Anelka and Ferreira for Terry.

Worryingly, for both Chelsea and England, Terry looked to have picked up a foot injury as he hobbled off.

Three more points in the bag, a mixed performance but two more records on the way.

Chelsea have now won 10 Premier League away games on the trot, a record and have now started a Premier League season with the most away wins on the trot.

Not a bad return for a rainy night in the West Midlands.

Chelsea Team - Cudicini, Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry (Ferreira - 85), Bridge, Mikel, Lampard, Deco, Kalou (Ballack - 68), Anelka (Drogba - 74), Malouda

Unused Subs - Hilario, A.Cole, Mineiro, Sinclair,

Chelsea Scorers - Bosingwa, Anelka (2),

Chelsea Yellow Cards - Terry, Bosingwa, Ivanovic

Chelsea Red Cards - Nil