The Daily Telegraph report the latest claims being made by Thierno Seydi, a representative of none other than Didier Drogba. According to him, Deputy Drog and Scolari had differences which were not going to be reconciled in a hurry, causing Chelsea to have to make a decision between manager and player. Unbelievable scenes!

Thierno Seydi, Drogba’s representative, said: “The fact that he was told to sit on the bench had nothing to do with sport. It was just a problem between two men who couldn’t work together.

“One had to go and Chelsea decided to part with Scolari.

“They said that Didier made history at the club and that he could still bring a lot to the team, so they decided to let the coach go and to keep Didier.”

The agent also goes to claim that the Chelsea striker has been the subject of bids from Inter and (surprise, surprise) Manchester City, although the club have refused to sell him. It’s little wonder, with the supporters knowing all too well that there aren’t too many defenders who can handle the forward when he’s at the top of his game. What do Blues fans make of these latest revelations?

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Premiership Manager’s Press Kit
Instructions: Use as many times as necessary to explain your team’s shortcomings and to avoid more difficult questions about your team’s ability to kill of the opposition earlier in the game.

If a key decision made by the referee has not gone in your favour, use one of the responses below:
· “Its hard to show ‘respect’ when the referee performs so badly”
· “The referee got the big decisions wrong today”
· “I think the crowd gave that decision”

If you have benefited from one of these key decisions, use one of the responses below:
· “It’s about time we had some luck”
· “We had a similar decision given against us last week”
· “I didn’t see it”

Do not, under any circumstances, praise the referee. If a correct decision has been made then it is only because, although you have never controlled a Premier League game in front of thousands, with managers and the press ready to lambaste you and your every decision scrutinized by cameras in every corner of the ground, you know that it is in fact a very easy job.

Managers seem to have completely misunderstood the Respect Campaign. When they signed up to the FA-led initiative at the start of the season they entered into a code of conduct, detailing how they will show respect to others involved in the game, display and promote high standards of behaviour, always respect the match officials’ decisions and never engage in public criticism of the match officials. You don’t see much of that on Match of the Day on a Saturday night.

What we actually see is Respect, if the manager’s team has won. After losing 3-0 to Man City last week, Arsene Wenger was adamant Johan Djourou’s challenge on Daniel Sturridge should not have been a penalty, yet after beating Chelsea 2-1 at the weekend and watching Robin van Persie score from what was quite clearly an offside decision, he declared, ‘It was impossible to see from the bench… this time it went for us.’ It is impossible for the Referees to win because they have to please two opposing sides. One week Wenger won’t see it, the next he’s calling for the referee’s blood.

Luiz Felipe Scolari has been a shining reflection of the Respect Campaign’s code of conduct, but now he wants a public apology from referee Mike Dean for that decision. Can you imagine what would happen if one team managed to pressurise a public apology from a referee for one decision? It would be demanded every week.

Scolari later said, ‘The players are wrong when they make a mistake in front of goal… but the referee is never wrong’. How wrong you are, Mr Scolari. As every manager in the Premiership has shown us, the referee is always wrong and the players are always right. We expect the referee to never make a mistake, or at least never get the ‘big’ decisions wrong, as if he stores up some additional ability to make correct decisions and only unleashes it when he makes that snap judgement that a big decision is coming.

Mike Dean’s decision at Stamford Bridge was a game-changing one, but what if we levelled the same criticism at players for such game-changing moments? Avram Grant would have thanked John Terry for throwing away the Champions League Final and losing him his job, Steve Bruce would have claimed Titus Bramble isn’t fit to play in the South Lancashire Counties League and Rafa Benitez would have labelled Robbie Keane a waste of £20m and demanded a public apology from the Irishman.

In order to follow the Respect campaign, managers will need to be realists. They need to understand that not only is the referee’s job an incredibly difficult one, but that at least one party will always be unhappy with his decision, because it is just that, his. All decisions involve some kind of judgement, and because judgement is subjective, so are all decisions.

The day managers demand a perfect game from all of their players is the day they can demand the same from a referee.

It appears as though Didier Drogba is once again flirting with other football clubs, with the Ivorian apparently meeting Inter’s technical director for a coffee and a chat recently. The Guardian reports that the Chelsea manager lost his cool when these allegations were put to him in a press conference.

The Chelsea manager said he had no idea where Drogba had been but added, with no little sarcasm, that he was “not the policeman for my players” and nor did he “sleep with Drogba”.

“I think what I say one month ago,” he said. “It’s December, then it’s Christmas and Christmas is for agents. They open their mouths for the world … I want this, the team wants that. Now is the month. Now maybe 15 players from Chelsea [go] outside and 15 come. If you ask me if I say any name, I say no.”

Do Chelsea still need Didier Drogba if they are to challenge for the Premier League and Champions League this season, or has Nicolas Anelka demonstrated that he is more than able to lead the line? This is not the first time that the Ivorian has courted controversy during his time at Stamford Bridge, and many supporters would be relieved to see him leave, simply because they are sick of rumours linking him with a move away.

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The Guardian report the Blues manager in an ebullient mood ahead of the new campaign. He’s liking the look of his squad and will be putting out a strong team on all fronts.

“We are in four competitions this season and I will try to win all four, and the players will do the same,” he said. “You know, it’s very difficult but we have the team to do this, we have the players to do this. Chelsea have given to me everything that I want. And I’ll tell you a story: I am from Brazil and from Brazil to Kuala Lumpur is too far. I was here in 2002 before the World Cup and I thought I would never come back. Yet here I am, six years later. I’ve learned one lesson. Never say never.

“The players have confidence. They reached two finals and the last game of the Premier League last season [with a chance of winning the title]. That’s good for me. I want to reach finals. If we do that I’ll be happy and, if we do, after this [tour] I’ll know the way to win [them]. I always say to my players, ‘Look, you have confidence in yourselves and the rest is my problem. It’s not your problem’.”

Goodness, you get a couple of decent victories against teams of Chinese no-hopers and all of a sudden, you think you are world-beaters. Let’s not forget that Scolari failed to guide Portugal beyond the quarter finals of Euro 2008 in the summer, and perhaps landing one trophy would be a more realistic achievement for his Chelsea team next season.

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The Guardian report that the new Blues coach is a big fan of Drogba and, despite the Ivorian’s noises about leaving the Bridge throughout the season, it looks like he’ll get plenty of love from the Brazilian.

He claimed that he had heard encouraging noises from Lampard, who has 12 months to run on his £105,000-a-week contract. “He said to me, ‘Boss, this, this and this’, but I want to stay,” said Scolari, who added that Lampard would be the vice-captain to John Terry. “I said, ‘I want you here and happy’ and he said, ‘I stay and I am happy’. Now, it’s a business decision for Lampard and the club. He has one year minimum with us.”

Scolari also wants Didier Drogba to stay, despite overtures from Inter and Milan. “I am not 100% happy with him, I am 200%,” he said. “Two seasons ago I voted for Drogba as the best player in the world and I think three seasons ago, I chose John Terry. Now they are with me, I am happy.”

Chelsea fans, you must be delighted to hear that Lamps and Deputy Drog will be sticking around, especially as they have been such important players for the Blues in recent seasons. Whether or not the England midfielder will stay after next season remains to be seen, especially with Jose Mourinho remaining adamant that he’ll get his man in a year’s time.

Having inherited Alex, Belletti, Ricardo Carvalho, Henrique Hilário and Paulo Ferreira, Scolari has set about signing Deco and allegedly had a hand in bringing Porto right-back Jose Bosingwa to Stamford Bridge. Now it has been revealed that another one of Scolari’s international ‘students’ is in talks to head to Fulham Road.

Real Madrid striker Robinho is reported to be in contact with Scolari’s Chelsea over a £25million move. How credible this claim is depends on your stance on agents, with Robinho’s agent Wagner Riberio leading the claim in Spanish paper AS:

It’s true that Chelsea are interested in signing Robinho. They have been after him for a while and there has been much more contact since Scolari became the new coach.

I met with [Chelsea director, Frank] Arnesen in London and he confirmed to me that Chelsea wanted my player for next season.

The move apparently depends on Real’s outcome in the Cristiano Ronaldo saga. If Ronaldo arrives at the Santiago Bernabéu, Los Blancos will let Robinho move to Chelsea.

It can also be seen as a way of making Real sweat on Robinho’s contract talks. The agent was again in the press this week saying that Real do not value his player high enough and the club stalling in contract negotiations demonstrates this:

Robinho’s priority is to continue at Real Madrid. But he cannot stay in a place in which they don’t recognise his talent and at the moment Real Madrid are not doing that and I’m not talking about money

We don’t like this attitude and we want Madrid to start valuing Robinho because at the moment they’re not.

Whether or not Robinho will arrive at Stamford Bridge remains to be seen, but regardless of the outcome, the agent will have his nice slice of the pie.

Wagner Ribeiro, Robinho’s agent, supposedly flew to London this week to spread the word about his client’s interest in leaving the Santiago Bernabéu. Robinho had been in talks with Real about a new contract, but the process has been very slow and could signal an exit for the unsettled 24-year-old, with Arsenal and Chelsea reportedly waiting in the wings.

Fans may agree that it would be good to see Robinho in the Premiership, but his agent is obviously drumming up interest to help his client gain a more lucrative contract. A few factors run against his agent’s claims.

Arsenal have made moves for the forward before, most recently in 2007 when the Gunners and AC Milan battled it out, only for Real to decide to hold on to the player. Should they actually make a move to bring Robinho to the Emirates stadium again, there would be stumbling blocks in the form of limited transfer funds and wage ceilings, pushing Stamford Bridge to the front of the ‘queue’, through the tenuous link of the arrival of ex-Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.

Also, Real maintain that he will not leave, with president Roman Claderon stating:

He is not transferable. We are not going to sell Robinho.

So is Robinho making moves to switch the Premiership, or is his agent trying to make himself some money from Real?

After a disappointing season, plagued by injury and poor form, Ronaldinho has been told by Barcelona that he is not not needed at Camp Nou as they ring the changes after two silverware-bereft years.

Ronaldinho’s agent and brother, Roberto De Assis, has reported that Milan is the preferred destination for the troubled playmaker, telling Sportal.it:

We have always had a good relationship with Milan and always been in contact.

We know that Milan like Ronaldinho and that Ronaldinho likes Milan and we will continue to work to bring the best player in the world to the best club in the world.

The move is a big snub to Chelsea. Officals at Stamdford Bridge had hoped that the lure of ex-Brazil boss Phil Scolari, under whom Ronaldinho won the 2002 World Cup, would prove too much for the former World Player of the Year. It also puts a big block on Mark Hughes’ chances of bringing him to Eastlands.

Rumours had been doing the rounds that Ronaldinho was on the verge of joining Chelsea, but in recent weeks, more and more destinations have been suggested. Bitter rivals Inter Milan, Juventus and even Argentine giants Boca Juniors have been interested in him. However, his brother insists it is a one-horse race:

We’re only talking to Milan. We’ve never heard from Inter or Juventus out of respect for the Rossoneri.

I can confirm that Ronaldinho would go very willingly to Milan and if it hasn’t already happened it’s because there have been problems between the two clubs, probably at an economic level, but there’s still time to come to an agreement – at least until August 31.

His claims fly in the face of Milan vice president Adriano Galliani, who earlier this week proclaimed that Arsenal’s Emmanuel Adebayor was their one and only transfer target this summer:

Milan remain true to their word, either Adebayor comes or we keep things as they are.

Perhaps things had gone cold on the Ronaldinho transfer front, so his agent is looking to create more interest by suggesting there is a leading party? Or maybe he is trying to tie things up before his brother travels to China for the Olympics, where he could show how far he has fallen and completely lose any interest that remains?

Therefore, it doesn’t exactly make you warm to ‘Big’ Phil Scolari when you read that part of the reason behind joining Chelsea was the financial security provided. Surely this man, as manager of Portugal, cannot be short of a bob or two. The Guardian report that money was a driving factor behind his imminent arrival at Stamford Bridge, although why can’t he be honest and say he saw the £££ signs flash up in front of his eyes?

“Finance was one of the reasons, absolutely,” said Scolari, who will be paid £5m a season at Stamford Bridge. “There is also a different situation. I’ve got a family and other possibilities opened up for me. I might offer my younger son opportunities he would not have had. This [Portugal] has been a process that’s lasted for five and a half years. I never worked for a club for five and a half years. Sometimes it’s good to change things, it’s positive.

“I’m 59 and I’m going to be 60 soon. I want to work for five, six more years and retire. I always say you only get an opportunity once to take it or leave it.”

Yes, Phil’s son will now get opportunities he never had before, such as the chance to own a yacht where some busty blondes will swill champagne with him. I suppose he should get some credit for not banging about the ‘unique opportunity’ that presented itself at Chelsea, when in reality, being manager of this team is very much a steering job for the most part.

A Benfica statement confirmed talks had taken place, but said: “No details of the contract, namely salaries and timing, have been discussed.”

Eriksson said: “I’m considering the offer and it could be a step forward in my career – let’s see what happens.”

The haste in which Sven has courted this potential suitor effectively brings an end to his one-season reign at Manchester City. He certainly had an impact on the club right away, with the ‘Ol’ Blue Eyes is Back’ posters being plastered all over the city. The former England manager has brought in some quality talent this season and laid some decent foundations for whoever comes in as his replacement. It just seems odd that Shinawatra has agreed a three-year deal with Sven and decided to renege after one year.

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