Dutch side Ajax have given Henk Ten Cate permission to contact Chelsea to discuss the possibility of him joining the coaching staff at Stamford bridge as Avram Grant’s number two. This could unsettle Steve Clarke, although Chelsea will do what they can to help keep some continuity at the club, which could involve him moving down the pecking order.

Ten Cate The Number One Number Two

Ten Cate has a successful history as a number two, before taking over Ajax he was No.2 at Barcelona where he helped the Spaniards to the league title in 2006.

Could Martin Jol Take Over At Ajax?

Despite a reasonable points haul during his tenure at Ajax, this season has been poor. With the Dutch heavy weights getting knocked out of the Champions League by Slavia Prague. The departure of ten Cate could pave a way for Martin Jol to leave Spurs with his head held high. With him walking in to the most prestigious job in Holland other than the International job.

There are reports in London that Jose Mourinho has walked out on Chelsea. It would appear that last nights poor performance against Rosenborg was the straw that broke the camels back. The deterioration of the relationship between Mourinho and Abramovich has been well documented over recent months.

There will be plenty of managers willing to take over the reigns at Chelsea. To have the almost infinite resources of Roman Abramovich, and make the stars play the attractive football that Russian craves.

Mourinho Leaves A Sinking Ship At Stamford Bridge

The press have done there best to sensationalise the issues at the club a bust up with Joe Cole, Ballack’s omission from the Champions League squad just to name a few.

Mourinho had another three years on his lucrative deal as Chelsea manager and he leaves on a sour note having lost the Premier League title to Manchester United, although during his tenure he did win everything that England had to offer. Premier League fans will miss him when they listen to the managerial sound bites this weekend.

Where Next For The Special One?

There will be no shortage of job offers for the talents of Mourinho, Spurs could be looking for a new manager soon, it would be the perfect opportunity for Mourinho to demonstrate that he has the ability to replicate his success at Porto with a club that has limited resources. Alternatively a man with his charisma and vocal opinions could very easily find a career in the media, Skysports could find a role for him alongside other pundits and ex-managers.

After his scrambled statement about eggs in the press conference before the game against Norwegian club Rosenborg, and with press reports insisting that Chelsea must win the Champions League more than once with ten years of Abramovich’s take over. It would seem that the result left Mourinho with egg on his face.

Enough of the poultry puns, because they are about as funny as the Blues performance on the night. Chelsea found themselves a goal behind after 24 minutes when centre half Miika Koppinen stabbed home a cross from a Marek Sapara free kick.

Twenty Chances For Chelsea, One Goal For Sheva

Chelsea punished the Norwegian sides defence with wave after wave of attack, but they lacked the necessary penetration in the final third. Chelsea had over twenty attempts on goal but only five made the keeper work. They did manage to get back on level terms, through the unlikely source of Andry Shevchenko. After almost a hour the Ukranian headed home a Florent Malouda cross to provide the home fans with some cheer.

Worst Chelsea Home Attendance For Four Years

UEFA rules on stadia often mean that most clubs have to leave the first two rows empty when staging Champions League fixtures. However there were a lot more than the obligatory empty seats in Stamford Bridge. Only 24973 fans paid the money to watch the first European game of the season. Leaving the Blues with 18000 empty seats to hide from the TV cameras.

Injured Germany captain Michael Ballack has been left off the list of Chelsea players eligible for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.

The Chelsea squad for their Champions League Group B games had to be submitted on Friday and the medical staff at Stamford Bridge were unable to say if the 31 year-old would be match fit for any of the group matches.

Ballack Available For UEFA Champions League Knockout Stages

When the group stage is complete on the 11th December, Chelsea will be able include Ballack for any knockout fixtures for the rest of the tournament.

Ballack Should Return From Injury In November

Ballack should be returning to work in domestic competitions for the beginning of November. However he wont be available for European duties until the Champions League resumes in February 2008.

With Liverpool top of the Premier League after their six-goal victory over Derby, Chelsea needed three points if they were to remain on course to win back the Premier League from Manchester United. However the Blues have failed to win at Villa Park for previous eight occasions.

Zat Knight Repays £3.5m Transfer Investment Immediately With Debut Goal

Villa manager Martin O’Neill is reaping the reward from his summer spending just 36 hours after the transfer window slammed shut until January. Zat Knight who recently moved to Birmingham to join the Villa Park outfit in a £3.5m transfer from Fulham, opened his goal scoring account on his debut to give his new side the lead just after half time.

Chelsea All Possession No Penetration

Mourinho’s men enjoyed all the possession, but they failed to carve clear cut openings for a shot on goal. Even for all the stellar players in the Chelsea team in the whole ninety minutes they managed just two feeble attempts on target. On both occasions Scott Carson made comfortable saves from Essien & SWP.

Villa held off the Chelsea attack in the second half, and made the most of counter attacks. Gabriel Agbonlahor made the most of on such attack converting Ashley Young’s cross to guarantee the victory for Villa.

Home                                    Away

Sep 18, Rosenborg (h)         Oct 3, Valencia (a)
Oct 24, Schalke (h)              Nov 6, Schalke (a)
Dec 11, Valencia (h)             Nov 28, Rosenborg (a)

Jose Mourinho will begin this seasons attempt to win the Champions League playing host to Rosenborg at Stamford Bridge. Although they have kept their spending to relatively modest sums during the transfer window they have still brought in Malouda, Sidwell, Ben Haim, and Alex who will provide the strength in depth that the lacked last year.

The draw for the Champions league was populated with the usual suspects and some new fringe teams. There were no less than six British in the draw. The big four from England Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool are joined in the draw by the old firm from north of the border. Glasgow Rangers will welcome the windfall from the group stage, the £10m should help ease their current financial situation. Celtic scraped through the last round beating Spartak Moscow in a penalty shoot out to earn a place in the draw for the group stage.

UEFA Champions League GROUP A

Liverpool FC (England)
FC Porto (Portugal)
Olympique Marseille (France)
Besiktas (Turkey)

Last years beaten finalists Liverpool will hope their newly strengthened squad can go the extra mile this year, but they may be distracted with their domestic campaign. They will have trips to Portuguese side Porto who have been successful in the competition in recent years. Marseille are back in the big time after recovering from the scandals of the last decade, they may do well enough to compete for the second spot although they might settle for for the UEFA Cup spot. Besiktas will enjoy their participation in the Champions League, they are familiar with the format having played in the UEFA cup last season.

UEFA Champions League GROUP B

Chelsea FC (England)
Valencia (Spain)
Schalke 04 (Germany)
Rosenborg (Norway)

Premier League runners-up Chelsea will be confident of their progression from Group B, their assembly of stars should cruise through the group as they try to secure the one trophy that has eluded Jose Mourinho in his tenure as Chelsea manager.

Chelsea’s toughest test will come against Spanish side Valencia, who they managed to beat in last years quarter final. Although it must be said that Schalke and Rosenborg will be no push overs as they fight for the second qualification or UEFA Cup place, Schalke finished second in the Bundesliga last year behind Stuttgart.

UEFA Champions League GROUP C

Real Madrid (Spain)
Werder Bremen (Germany)
Lazio (Italy)
Olympiakos (Greece)

Spanish League winners Real Madrid have Germany’s third placed team Werder Bremen in their group along with Italy’s third place side Lazio, which will suit Madrid’s new man in charge Bernd Schuster who has recently strengthened his squad, adding names like Robben, Sneijder and Heinze. The fourth team in the Group C is Olympiakos from Greece.

UEFA Champions League GROUP D

AC Milan (Italy)
Benfica (Portugal)
Celtic (Scotland)
Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)

2007 Champions Milan will face Glasgow Celtic again this season after playing them last year.  Benfica, Celtic and Shaktar Donetsk will be competing for the second place and the UEFA Cup place, unless they manage to raise their game to upset the Champions.

UEFA Champions League GROUP E

FC Barcelona (Spain)
Olympique Lyon (France)
VfB Stuttgart (Germany)
Rangers (Scotland)

Instantly recognised as the ‘Group Of Death’ Glasgow Rangers will struggle to make even the UEFA Cup place. Winners from 2006 Barcelona who are fresh from a pre-season tour of Scotland will be favourites to top Group E. Barca & Celtic are joined in the group of death by winners of their respective leagues Lyon who won in France and Stuttgart who won the Bundesliga.

UEFA Champions League GROUP F

Manchester United (England)
AS Roma (Italy)
Sporting Lisbon (Portugal)
Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine)

The English and Italian authorities will hope there is no rekindling of hostilities between Manchester United and Roma, after the violence that erupted in last seasons clash. The new and improved United squad will want to try and better the 7-1 result they managed last season. Ronaldo and Nani will face their old club Sporting Lisbon. The fixture that could cause the upset will be Dynamo Kiev, clubs that have a trip to Kiev in late October early November in the bitter cold may not perform well allowing the Ukrainians to exploit their familiar conditions.

UEFA Champions League GROUP G

Inter Milan (Italy)
PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
CSKA Moscow (Russia)
Fenerbahce (Turkey)

Another group where trips to a freezing cold Moscow could be a deciding factor in who is successful in the group. Italian Champions Inter Milan should finish top of the group, then it is a three way scramble between PSV, CSKA & Fenerbahce for the other two places.

UEFA Champions League GROUP H

Arsenal (England)
Sevilla (Spain) or AEK Athens (Greece)
Steaua Bucharest (Romania)
Slavia Prague (Czech Republic)

England’s fourth placed team face two eastern European sides in Steaua Bucharest and Slavia Prague, having dispatched the Czech Republic’s other entrant to the competition Sparta Prague in the qualifying round. The fourth club to be in the group has yet to be decided. The game between UEFA Cup holders for the last two seasons Sevilla from Spain, had their game against AEK Athens postponed following the death of Sevilla defender Antonio Puerta.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has given his management team till the close of the Transfer Window to secure the services of the World’s most flamboyant player. Even though his buy out clause is reportedly £85m, the Russian businessman has allegedly met with the players advisors.

Barca Could Pay The Cost Of Increasing Taxes

Ronaldinho is due to naturalised and awarded Spanish nationality as he has been resident in Spain for five years. Naturalisation is usually what most Brazilian players look for when they join clubs in Spain and Portugal, however they do not earn as much as Ronaldinho, his naturalisation would see him lose his overseas status with the Tax Man, almost doubling his tax bill to the Spanish government.

His reluctance to pay this level of tax and the recent arrival of Thierry Henry who has reignited his friendship with Eto’o, and there is no love lost between the African and the Brazilian. All of these factors could be the cause of the increased interest from Stamford Bridge.

Having lost his legal action with Manchester United and the Premier League halting his move to Liverpool. Argentinean defender Gabriel Heinze has left England to join Spanish giants Real Madrid.

The £8 million deal will see the defender line up alongside World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro in the Madrid defence, he has been drafted in to replace Bernabeu legend Roberto Carlos.

Sir Alex Ferguson Calls For Investigation In To Liverpool Involvement In The Transfer

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has wished Heinze well at his new club, in the press conference ahead of this weekend’s clash against Tottenham Hotspur. However he has said that United will be investigating Liverpool’s involvement in unsettling one of the players who helped United win back the Premiership last season.

Robben Wanted To Leave Chelsea

Arjen Robben could not wait to leave Stamford Bridge, he cited the management’s lack of confidence due to his injuries as the main reason for his willingness to leave. However just as important to him was the fact that he had won everything in English football during his three years at Chelsea. He has signed a deal that will keep him in the Spanish capital for five years.

Chelsea will start the season without left-back Wayne Bridge after he went under the knife while on tour in the United States. The operation was performed to remove bone that was aggravating Bridge.

Bridge is not the only left-back on the Stamford Bridge treatment table, his England team-mate Ashley Cole is also on the road to recovery. Leaving Jose Mourinho with just new recruit Tal Ben Haim who recently joined the blues on a free transfer from Bolton Wanderers.