Chelsea manager, Carlo Ancelotti, has said that he will stay at the London club whether they win a trophy by the end of the season or not.

Rumours have been going around that the Italian could leave or be forced out at the end of the year if he doesn’t win at least the Premier League.

However, Ancelotti says that he sees his future at the club and he does not have any immediate intentions to go elsewhere. This news should be a lift to his team who are struggling with injuries and all of the fans.

He said: “I am here to change the history of this club. I have a very good relationship with the club and with Roman. [Avram] Grant was the past, now there is a present. I think the owner now is thinking what I think: to win the Premier League and to win the FA Cup. I am an optimistic man. My position is not under discussion.”

“My future is definitely at Chelsea next season, I can confirm that. I have two more years of my contract. I think that, in the past, with 86 points every team has won the title. But we can’t afford to lose at Manchester United.”

“We have nine or ten games until the end of the season — eight in the Premier League and maybe two in the FA Cup — and that’s not a lot of time. We have to win ten games.”

“Ashley’s recovery is going very well. He started to train on his own and I think that he will train with the group maybe in 15 days. I think he will be ready before the end of the season.”

The problem for Ancelotti has been finding the consistency, which has made Chelsea one of the best teams in the recent past. One moment they’re brilliant and the next they’re not.

It has not helped the manager that he has very rarely been able to name the same side for more than two or three games in a row. Chelsea are suffering big time with injuries and this could be the thing that costs them.

At times when the business end of a football season is fast approaching, the one thing that all connected with the club want to see is a strong manager and Chelsea have this.

Many have said that Ancelotti is not as tactically aware as many other managers in the Premier League but his team have done quite well for the majority of the season and produced some impressive results.

If all of the games go the way as predicted then the winner of Manchester United against Chelsea will most likely go on to lift the Premier League trophy at the end of this season.

Chelsea could do a lot worse so it’s important they manage to keep the boss happy and give him no reason to doubt his position or the club.

Manchester United have managed to sneak ahead in the Premier League title race after the weekend went virtually perfectly for them.

United were faced with the difficult task of having to beat Liverpool to take back their leading spot from Arsenal. They also had to hope that Blackburn did them a favour against Chelsea.

Their task was tricky because Arsenal carried on surprising one and all by beating West Ham to move back top. United then managed to sneak a 2-1 win against their biggest rivals before Blackburn took a point off Chelsea.

The games leave United leading the pack for the title. However, the race is not over yet and all managers involved admit there is still time to win and lose points in some potentially tricky games.

Chelsea’s Carlo Ancelotti said: “It will be more difficult now to win the title, but it’s not impossible. We have a good chance, but it will be more difficult. We can’t afford to lose our confidence and composure. They [United] are top of the list. We have to run more and do better. We have to leave this moment as soon as possible. It is important to win on Wednesday.”

Sir Alex Ferguson said after the Liverpool win: “I thought for the penalty kick it was a red card. There was no way [Jamie] Carragher could have got across to stop Valencia from shooting.”

The thing that Chelsea have to keep in mind is that unlike United and Arsenal, they will now play five games less in the season. This is due to their Champions League exit.

This will allow their players to be that little bit extra fresh when they go into each Premier League game. This is something that the two other teams will just have to cope with but it could ultimately be the deciding factor.

Chelsea are also battling domestically in another competition, which will allow them to stay sharp against other English teams. It is still difficult to call but the West London side are still a very good bet.

One of the teams will fade away over the next few games and that side will be the one that allows the other two to emerge in a race to the finish encounter.

It does not look as though United will fade because they have the experience of being in this position before as do Chelsea. Arsenal have the easiest run in of games but the Chelsea result at Blackburn shows that nothing can be taken for granted this season.

United are now the firm favourites and it would take a very brave man to bet against them. They did not look flustered when they fell behind yesterday and the passion in the team looks as great as it ever was.

Keep tabs on the others but it could be yet another title for Ferguson as his United train shows no signs of slowing down.

Jose Mourinho says that his Inter Milan side deserved to go through to the quarter finals of the Champions League after out classing Chelsea in ever way.

A goal from Samuel Eto’o was enough to make sure that the first leg lead was not over turned by Chelsea who will be greatly disappointed by their own performance on the night.

Chelsea will say that they were not helped out by the referee who could have given the London club a penalty on two separate occasions. However, they did not do enough in the game to make this irrelevant.

He said: ““I’m very happy because we won and because we were the best team. Sometimes in football you win because you’re lucky. Sometimes you win because you are the best team. Sometimes you win because you were the best team from the first to last minute. That team was my team, and my players.”

“I’m very happy because my players are happy, my supporters are happy, my president is happy and because I worked so much for this game. As a professional, that’s the best feeling you can have. I’m not happy because my ex-players or Roman [Abramovich, the owner] lost, or that Chelsea supporters go home sad.”

“Yesterday I exchanged a few texts with John Terry and I told him that one of us would be sad today. That’s life. My people will always be my people, but today I was the enemy. And the enemy won. That’s life.”

Chelsea boss, Carlo Ancelotti, added: “I think that Inter played a very good game. They put strong pressure on our midfielders and we were not able to play how we wanted. I think that Inter deserved to win this game. This is the reality. We have to stay focused now on the other competitions, but I think that we could have played better than this.”

The European exit may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for the London club because they are now free to focus on the Premier League. With one of most contested league run ins of recent years this is very important.

England officials will also be smiling because Chelsea have some of the most important English players. They will now play five games less, which will mean they are slightly fresher when it comes to the World Cup this summer.

However, everyone connected to the club will be bitterly disappointed because they would have been hoping that they could erase the bitter memory of Champions League heart break from the previous two seasons.

It’s now back to the drawing board for the club because they will have to think up a different way to win in Europe. They did not turn up last night, which was disappointing.

Mourinho will be happy he had the last laugh and he will be happy he has put the ghosts of last year to rest.

Chelsea manager, Carlo Ancelotti, says that he does not have any worries about putting Ross Turnbull in goal to face Inter Milan.

Turnbull has stepped into the Chelsea spot light after injuries to Petr Cech and Hilario have left the number one spot open for the former Middlesbrough player to walk in and make his own.

Turnbull had a relatively solid debut in the game against West Ham at the weekend and Chelsea’s Italian boss does not see any reason as to why he should not throw Turnbull in at the deep end.

He said: “I’m not a doctor, but until now Cech hasn’t trained, so it’s impossible that he might play tomorrow. There’s no chance of me taking a risk on Cech. Turnbull is a confident lad and we have confidence in him.”

“Turnbull is a good goalkeeper who has played very well this season and improved every day. So, for me, it’s not a problem. Cech has more experience for sure, but Ross is young and has enthusiasm to play. He wants to play and, for him, this will be a great, great experience.”

Inter boss, Jose Mourinho, says it could be tricky for the young shot stopper. He added: “The story of playing with the third-choice goalkeeper is a non-story because the one thing I have good is my memory.”

“When I was Chelsea’s manager we played in the Champions League against Barcelona with our third-choice in goal. Cech and [Carlo] Cudicini were injured, and Hilário made his debut against Barcelona. We beat them at Stamford Bridge and drew in Camp Nou. This happens all over the world. So I don’t think it’s a big problem, especially if we don’t have a shot.”

“I can explain why I called up the other 20 players. It’s more important to talk about the players who will be there tomorrow, not those that aren’t.”

Although we do not currently know who will step out onto the pitch for these two teams tonight. The thing that is for sure is the fact that both will name attacking sides who will want to win.

This could place a lot of pressure on Turnbull to command the defence in front of him. He will have to shout at players much more experienced than himself in order to convey messages about striker positions and developing runs.

Chelsea would not consider playing him if they did not think he was up to the task. Ancelotti is totally right in the respect that it does not get any better for a football player than stepping out on a European night in front of a home sell out crowd.

Mourinho is no fool and he’ll tell his strikers to give the goalkeeper a few nudges early on in the match. It would take a very naïve side not to. All that remains is to see how Turnbull steps up to the challenge of being Chelsea’s number one.

Inter Milan manager, Jose Mourinho, has been savouring the sweet taste of success after he beat his former club, Chelsea, last night.

There had been many exchanges of words between Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti before the game but it is the Portuguese who won the game 2-1 and will take back a narrow lead to Stamford Bridge.

Inter were really up for the game and it is encouraging to see that Mourinho has lost not a single part of his tactical prowess and knowledge. Chelsea will feel cheated out of a second away goal as they feel they should have had a penalty but it was not to be.

Mourinho said: “At Stamford Bridge I expect everyone to be pleased to have me back, as we were happy together. I go back to a different dressing room, a different dugout, and they know that normally Mourinho is lucky at Stamford Bridge.”

“I have to control my emotions. I have to be professional, like I was today and like the Chelsea players were today. In the tunnel it was not a normal game for me and it was not a normal game for them, but on the pitch it was a normal game.”

“Of course I’m happy inside, as a professional I want to win, more than anybody else.”

Ancelotti added: “I think it was a penalty in the first half, but a penalty is when the referee whistles. We were unlucky this evening and hope it will be better in the future. I believe we played quite well. We played a good game, with personality, with courage and with spirit. The result is not so positive, but not so bad.”

“Cech has an injury on his calf. We have to wait and control his condition and see when he can return to the squad.”

Inter fans will be encouraged to see that their team have come a long way since they were soundly beaten in the same competition by Manchester United last season.

It really was an exciting and high-tempo Champions League tie that many people will not forget in a hurry. The Inter boss now has a bit of ammunition to take back to Chelsea with him and it will be interesting to see just how Inter approach the game.

Chelsea will back themselves on their own ground to beat anyone who comes to play. The team will also be intent on making up for the disappointment of being knocked out by Barcelona last season in such controversial fashion.

The game is very evenly balanced and it is exciting for the neutral to behold. Mourinho will most likely have a little sense of smug self-satisfaction but he is not naïve enough to think that Inter are through yet.

Let’s just hope he doesn’t come and park the bus or look a little nervous on his former hunting ground. It wouldn’t be surprising if Inter now run away with it.

England manager, Fabio Capello, has stressed the importance that all of his players keep a low profile in the build up to the World Cup.

John Terry and Ashley Cole have been in the headlines lately for all of the wrong reasons and Capello wants his players to stay focused and intent on their sporting ambitions.

There is a worry that negative press in the build up to South Africa will attract unwanted attention for players who will need to be resting and free from stress. This would provide England’s opponents with something to use against the team and wind up the players during matches.

Capello said: “The players have to understand what I want if you want to stay with me. It will be very important because we need to create a group. The England shirt is very important. This will be one of the most important points we will speak about.”

“The World Cup is really important for me, for England and for the players. We have to stay together and be compact in every moment. I think this will be my most important job, to recreate this spirit. After four months we will meet the players next week and it will be a very important game for many reasons. One is also this (situation).”

“We will talk about a lot of things because four months is a long time. If you can meet the players every month it is different. We will have two days to stay together, but they are very strong days. I spoke with (Chelsea manager) Carlo Ancelotti and our doctors spoke with Chelsea’s doctors.”

“We hope he will be fit in two months, more or less, and I think he will be ready for the World Cup. Wayne Bridge? Why not? He is a left-back. Cole and Bridge are the best left-backs. He will be with us. No problems about the other things.”

One of the things that many pundits have said is missing from the current side is that England team spirit that has made teams of old so successful and respected.

England have never been the world beaters that we all want them to be but the team spirit has been something, which has helped them get to the later stages of many competitions and beat some of the best teams.

It does not matter if England are playing a rampant Spain side in the World Cup Final. If every single player on the team is fighting for each other and going out of their way to win then that is the important thing that everyone can take away from the competition.

England’s disgraced players owe big time and now is the time for them to deliver at their clubs for the rest of the season. Summer is fast approaching. Whether or not that little golden trophy is in the hands of Rio Ferdinand in July can be determined by how the players react right now.

Jose Mourinho, manager of Inter Milan, has responded to the number of jibes aimed at him by Chelsea boss, Carlo Ancelotti.

Chelsea and Inter meet this evening in a huge Champions League contest and the two managers have been locked in a war of words over the last couple of days in the build up to the match.

Mourinho has said that the only reason Chelsea are still a heavy weight of the football world is because of him while Ancelotti has focused his criticism on the inadequacies of the Inter squad and their Mourinho’s insistence on focusing on everyone but himself.

Mourinho said: “If Ancelotti says that, it’s because he knows, or because somebody told him. Or because he belongs to the clan. I just do my job. I’m here to play a game of football.”

“Ashley Cole at this moment has to take care of himself and take care of his recovery. I called him a couple of days ago because I care about him. I wished him a very, very quick recovery. Because I like him very, very much, my advice to him is to stay in England.”

“I watched Ashley Cole play until the moment he had his injury, and he played superbly. If he has problems, for sure they are not on the pitch. I think Ancelotti must give him advice, his family must give him advice and he must think for himself, but if he really wants my advice, I think he should stay in England.”

“The most beautiful thing in football for a coach is the passion and respect of his players, and the supporters of his own club. That happens with me all the time, at Porto, Chelsea and Inter. That makes me proud. What Didier keeps saying about myself makes me proud, but I know what will happen tomorrow. I know that tomorrow he will break his legs for Chelsea.”

Inter stand a very good chance of progressing into the next stage of the Champions League but it will be a lot more difficult for them. Chelsea are the strongest team in England at the moment and all of the pre-match stories will fire them up.

Mourinho is an expert in knowing how to push all of the buttons in the managers of teams his side are about to face. He did it for a long time in England and got away with it for a long time in England.

It is impossible to count the number of times he forced the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger to come out in the media with outrageous comments in the build up to a Premier League game.

Both sides are on top form and both sides will want to win more than any thing else. What it will come down to is who is up for the game more. Mourinho may just edge the tie on tactics but Ancelotti is no mug.

John Terry has launched a full-scale attack on his Chelsea teammates after their disappointing performance in the weekend defeat at Wigan. Chelsea were so poor that not only did manager, Carlo Ancelotti, rip into them during and after the game, John Terry also jumped on board and said what he thought.

Chelsea are now making the same mistakes that have seen them give up their Premier League chances in recent years. The club have the annoying habit of being able to work themselves into some fantastic early season form and then throw it all away by not focusing in every single game.

Terry said: “When you go to places like Wigan, you’ve got to match them — match their workrate, match their effort, win your headers, win your tackles — and we simply didn’t do that in the first half.”

“You can go anywhere in the world and not play well, but the least we expect from every player is that we work hard and fight. We didn’t do that today — the whole team collectively. That’s the most disappointing thing of all.”

“All the other big sides in and around us have had emphatic wins, so it’s disappointing that we’ve thrown away three points. The manager has stressed that and the players feel that. You can’t come to places like this, when they’ve got their crowd right behind them, and not match their work ethic. We didn’t win our headers or our tackles and that’s simply not good enough. That’s the minimum we ask for.”

“It’s a massive game at home again for us next week and it’s important that we bounce back on Wednesday night [away to Apoel, of Cyprus, in the Champions League]. That’s probably the only good thing coming away from this game, that we’ve got another game on Wednesday. So we regroup, we go again and, hopefully, get a good win on Wednesday [to put ourselves in a good position in the Champions League group.”

Chelsea players have already said this season that they are feeling the pressure that is being put on them by the powers that be at the club. The facts are that the papers say Chelsea need to win either the Champions League or the Premier League this season for their manager and owner to be satisified.

Manchester United look as determined as ever and there are some very good sides dancing around in Europe so it will be tougher than ever before for the Blues.

Chelsea will hold crisis talks with their captain, John Terry, later today as the England centre back returns for pre-season training amidst a storm that is currently surrounding his future. Chelsea have already rejected two bids from Manchester City that have been aimed at poaching the Chelsea legend away from Stamford Bridge.

Terry has not yet had a chance to talk to his club and it appears that Carlo Ancelotti is wasting no time in talking to one of his most influential players. The reason that Terry has not yet said any thing is quite simple, he has been on holiday while most of this drama has been developing.

Chelsea fans will be hoping that it is the case that he simply walks into the manager’s office, sits down and states his intention that he has no desire to leave the club at all. If there are any doubts what so ever about his future at the club then Chelsea could well be swayed by a third Manchester City bid, which is currently being prepared.

This bid could be well over the £40 million mark and could see Terry earn wages that get close to the highest paid player in the Premier League, Robinho. However, you would question why he would want to move at all. Chelsea have a much better chance of immediate success than City do and Terry has come through the ranks of the club to lead the first team.

In effect, he is the main man at Chelsea and this is something that he may not have the luxury of should he choose to move up north. Many would question his ambition and temperament if he made the move as it would defy all football logic. It would also lead to a lot of fans branding him as nothing more than a mercenary and he would lose a lot of the respect that he currently has from fellow playing and coaching staff.

He will be encouraged by the fact that the club clearly want him to stay and the fact that they are wasting no time at all in holding talks with him. No sooner has he walked back through the door to start pre-season preparations and he is straight into the office to talk to the manager.

This prevents Terry from thinking that he is considered nothing more than a financial asset at the club and it could be a move that strengthens his desire to stay at Stamford Bridge. Had the club left the issue and waited for City’s third bid to come in the Terry would not be blamed for thinking that the club did not have his best interests at heart and he may well have walked through the exit door and got on the M1 to go up north.

A lot of players when they have left a club that they clearly admire and love have said that the thing, which pushed them out of the door, was that club’s reluctance to show any desire in making them stay. In a world that is dominated so much by huge sums of money it can e very easy for club’s to lose sight of the most important thing in their players and fans.

It is highly unlikely that Terry will be leaving Chelsea and it will take a very special deal from City for it to happen. It would have to be a deal that defies normal and logical thinking in the respect that it would allow Chelsea to move forward in maybe three or four areas.

The point is that should Terry stay and ultimately when he is asked questions in public about the whole affair, he will probably say that the main reason he stayed at the club was the fact that the manager wasted no time at all in showing his desire that he wanted him to remain as Chelsea captain. The club are clearly going to show him some loyalty and they clearly want him to stay put and for a non-egotistical man such as Terry this may well be enough.

It is a weird scenario because it is all of these values, which will be the main reasons that Mark Hughes wants Terry to join City. Many people will not look too far into the links but it is obvious that Terry would be the ideal sort of player to lead the City revolution. Someone that clearly has no ego and someone that would clearly give every thing for the club he is paid to play for.

This is why City are preparing a third bid for the England skipper, and would probably prepare another two or three after this if that’s what it would take to get him to make the move. Obviously City are better positioned than anyone else to be able to offer Terry a highly lucrative contract that would give him more money than he has ever earned before but the point is that there is clear logic behind their bids.

It is different from last January when they tried to sign Kaka from AC Milan because on that occasion it was probably more a case of, we will have a go and see if we can sign him. On this occasion it is a case of, this is the man that would be the ideal person to front our club over the next three to four years.

It would be a signing that would virtually see Manchester City set down the home straight. They would have a player around whom they could base the entire vision of the club and this is why Terry is so important to them. However, the discussion in the manager’s office today is likely to be the deciding one and it is likely that it will be a discussion that sees Terry state his desire to remain at the club, which he defines.

If he stays then it will be very much business as well expected but if he chooses to go then the party poppers will be going off all over the blue half of Manchester as many will quite obviously not be able to believe their luck. Realistically Terry will stay at Chelsea but the whole issue proves the growing strength that City are slowly obtaining.

It’s fitting that Andriy Shevchenko used to be a boxer as a kid. The forgotten 32-year-old Chelsea forward is at the moment like a struggling fighter, lying on the canvas after a 10th round knock-down. He looks beaten, tired and fed up with what he’s putting himself through, but he knows he has to get up. He knows he can’t give in and succumb to throwing in the towel with his career on the line.

It was boxing which first captured the imagination of sports-mad Shevchenko as a kid, and he even competed at LLWI Ukrainian junior league level before discovering his gift for football. But after being coached at both sports as a youngster, the former Dinamo Kiev striker needs to take a boxer’s mentality into his current profession, and he needs it now more than ever.

Carlo Ancelotti took over the reigns at Chelsea at the beginning of this month, and for Shevchenko it must have felt like the bell sounding a second after he’d found his feet on time following that 10th round flooring.

After all, Ancelotti is the coach who guided him to great things at Milan. To winning the Champions League in 2003 and following it up with the Seria A title the next year, polished off with the prestigious Ballon d’Or award.

Under the Italian boss Shevchenko became the most feared striker in the planet and when Roman Abramovich sweet talked his fellow Eastern European into joining his billionaire’s playground at Chelsea in 2006, defences up and down the country feared for their dignity.

When the Russian finally landed the Ukrainian for £30.8m they were getting an AC Milan legend. The Rossineri’s second all-time goalscorer, who at the time was the 3rd highest scorer in the history of European club football. A genuine modern legend, who simply couldn’t fail to live up to his billing upon his switch to London.

Except he could…and he did. It wasn’t entirely the player’s fault however as he was brought to the club in circumstances the English game is not yet equipped to deal with. Jose Mourinho was the Chelsea boss but Shevchenko certainly wasn’t his signing, and the Portuguese master showed both the Ukrainian and Abramovich exactly why they called him the ‘boss’.

Mourinho was reluctant to use the Ukrainian as a mainstay in his starting line up, instead preferring Didier Drogba, the signing he himself had arranged. ‘The Special One’ proved exactly why the formula of chairmen and owners buying players simply doesn’t work in English football. Rafael Benitez reiterated this with his similar shabby treatment of Robbie Keane, a £20m flop signed by then Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry.





It’s the players who suffer ultimately, and boy has Shevchenko suffered. Keane, incidentally, has since returned successfully to Tottenham where Liverpool bought him from in a move which mirrored that of Shevchenko’s loan return to his ‘home’ at AC Milan last year.

Mirrored except for one thing – success. While normal service was resumed for Keane at White Hart Lane, it has been a different story for the Ukrainian’s return to the San Siro. The striker did not find the net once in his 17 league outings last term for Milan and was largely subject to embarrassing cameo appearances to please the crowd towards the end of the campaign.

Just two goals in all competitions after 26 games has damaged his previously incredible record for the Italian giants. But his performances were so poor and his confidence so low that not even his beloved Milan fans would take him back again.

And so the fallen star returns to Stamford Bridge with hopes of making an impact in the final year of his contract, and with his former Milan boss now in charge his hopes actually seem very real. He had the opportunity to join Monaco and bask in a luxury villa reflecting on what has been an amazing career. But upon hearing of Ancelotti’s arrival in London, the man who once coached him to be the best striker in the world, he fancies another crack at the Premier League.

At 32, Shevchenko is sitting in the corner ready to come out for the 11th round of his career. The next round is crucial if he is to prolong his career the full distance. He knows he hasn’t got long, he knows he’s already been knocked down, but he also knows it’s not over. The Ukrainian is now reunited with his father-figure coach, determined not to go out of his Chelsea career without a fight.

It’ll take all the patience, discipline and skill of a boxer to turn this one around, but for Shevchenko, next season is there for the taking. So don’t rule him out just yet, because this one could yet go to the scorecards.