The Rising Sun

Eight managers have come and gone since Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea Football Club back in 2003. Stability is something that is long overdue at Stamford Bridge but I am hoping to change that by helping put the club back on top and challenging for trophies.

The board have made it clear that they want the club to play attacking football and develop young players using the academy system. If I can do that and be successful in my first season in charge, then hopefully I can break the curse of some previous managers by staying beyond my first season.

The media predict a third place finish, but if we can better that and maybe win a trophy along the way then it would be a brilliant achievement.

(Chelsea Football Club was founded on 10th March 1905 in ‘The Rising Sun’ public house on the Fulham Road)

Best of luck matey! Shall follow of course!

Chelsea Football Club shocked the world of football today by naming rookie Englishman Matthew Ward as the clubs new manager.

Despite winning the Champions League in May, the board have taken the decision to hand the unknown manager the chance to cut his teeth at the top level of English football.

Having never played the game on a professional level, Ward did have a spell with Brentford as a youth coach where he was able to gain valuable insight into how grass roots football has become an important part of the English game.

Upon signing his contract, Ward said, “To say I was surprised when I received the phone call was an understatement, but I’m here to do a job and with the help of my backroom staff I hope that we can put the club back on top”.

When asked about his transfer policy he continued by saying, “The long-term vision is to produce our own players, we have a great academy system in place and I believe that we can bring through some exciting young talents in the near future.”

The club will be embarking on a tour of China in the coming weeks where Ward will be able to monitor the progress of his squad. They then return to face Manchester City in the Community Shield on the 12th August.

Pantaleo Corvino has been announced as the new Director of Football at Chelsea following his release by Fiorentina.

Corvino, 62, was sporting director of Lecce from 1998 to 2005, gaining a reputation for scouting and signing new talents like Javier Chevanton, Valeri Bojinov and Mirko Vucinic. Joining Fiorentina in 2005, he most notably signed Zdravko Kuzmanovic, Stevan Jovetic, Felipe Melo and Luca Toni to name a few.

Using his vast experience within the game and working alongside one of the best scouting networks in modern football, the club will be looking to unearth some exciting young talents across the world.

Upon his arrival, Corvino told journalists, "The new manager called me personally and said that he wanted me to become part of the future of Chelsea. He told me about his ideas and what he was looking to achieve. We will work together in trying to make positive changes for the future of the club".

Cheers mate.

Phil Cannon has been named as the new Head of Youth Development at Chelsea Football Club.

Having been at Blackburn Rovers since 2009, he is now in charge of one of the most advanced academies in world football.

Leading a team of coaches in the academy, he will be responsible for making sure that the youth players are tactically, technically, physically and mentally prepared and ready for the step up to the first team squad.

He said, “The academy players will work with the expert staff of coaches, physiotherapists, strength and conditioning coaches and a performance analyst team to enable them to receive the best possible chance of reaching their goals”.

Despite the vast amount of money spent on Chelsea’s state-of-the-art Cobham academy, the club have failed to bring through any youngsters who have been able to cement a place in the first team.

Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole have both signed contract extensions that will keep them at the Chelsea until 2014.

The deals have put an end to speculation that neither player would be offered a new deal when their current ones expired, but the club seem to have eased the fans’ apparent uncertainty on whether this news would ever come.

The club have shown that they are not ready to give up on the 'old-guard' just yet and new manager Matthew Ward has commented on both players, he said, "These two players have been incredible professionals at Chelsea. They're experience is invaluable to the club and they continue to show fantastic levels of fitness. The young players look up to them and it can only be good for the future of Chelsea".

Frank Lampard has been at Chelsea for twelve years since his £11,000,000 move from West-London rivals West Ham United. He has been a consistent performer, helping the club to win ten major trophies during his time at Stamford Bridge. Lampard, 34, said “I am delighted to have signed a new contract with Chelsea. I have enjoyed great success since arriving and I want to finish my career with the club”.

Ashley Cole made his controversial move to the club in 2006, signing from Arsenal. The England left-back has gone on to cement his place as one of the best left-backs in the world. Cole, 31, said “I am still hungry to win more trophies and want to carry on playing at the highest level. The fans’ have been fantastic to me and I want to thank them for their continued support.”

This is very basic but very good, it makes a good read mate and your little updates are great Keep it coming!

Thanks Dan, I've never written a career out in this fashion before so it's new to me. I think if I was to churn out 1000 word updates then most of it would be nonsense but hopefully as I get more comfortable with the style then more should flow.

Chelsea arrived in China ahead of their preseason tour where they will face three difficult opponents.

The club will face last season’s league runners up Beijing Guo’an on 28th July, followed by a visit to the 2010 league champions Shandong Luneng on 2nd August. The final match of the tour will be against Jiangsu Sainty on 4th August.

This will be Frank Lampard’s twelfth preseason at Chelsea, so it’s fair to label him an expert on this part of the football calendar.

“Every game of the tour is important for us when we are building fitness”, Lampard said.

“When we go back we still have another two weeks until our season starts and now is the time when we are trying to get that little bit quicker and build a bit of stamina”.

As well as fitness, familiarity is being worked on as the squad gets used to new signings Eden Hazard, Marko Marin and Victor Moses. There will be no shortage of competition for places in midfield and Lampard is pleased with the additions.

“Every year it gets harder because we bring in new players, but I remember being twenty-five and we brought in four or five midfielders one summer. I wondered if I would be in the team and I played about sixty games. I have had a great career here and I wouldn't want the club to stand still. The club needs to move forward and bringing in quality midfield players is brilliant”.

Chelsea got their preseason off to a good start with a convincing victory over Beijing Guo’an.

The starting line-up included academy players Lucas Piazon and Nathan Ake, along with new signings Eden Hazard, Cesar Azpilicueta and Victor Moses. Things got off to a bad start though as Chelsea found themselves a goal down after eighteen minutes. Joffre Guerron was found with a first time pass, he was then able to beat Gary Cahill with a burst of pace and execute a neat finish from just inside the box.

Chelsea pressed well and got their reward on thirty-seven minutes when Fernando Torres found space at the back post to equalise from an Eden Hazard cross.

The European champions started the second half well as Cesar Azpilicueta played a neat one-two with Victor Moses and then put in a delightful cross which was knocked down by Fernando Torres for Ramires to hit a fierce shot from the edge of the box to put the visitors in front.

Eden Hazard continued his bright start as he whipped in a perfectly weighted corner which was met by the head of the unmarked Branislav Ivanovic on sixty-seven minutes. As the home side went in search of a goal they got caught on the counter-attack as Ramires grabbed his second goal to put the result beyond doubt.

New boss Matthew Ward described the win as a brilliant start but refused to get carried away.

“It was nice to get the win in such a manner but we will continue to work hard and prepare for the next game. Some of the players performed well above what I was expecting but we will always look to improve.”

“The young players showed why they deserve a chance and I was very pleased with what I saw”.

Final score: Beijing Guo’an 1 – 4 Chelsea
Attendance: 41,766