30 May 2012

29 May 2012

Eden Hazard - training with Belgium and joining Chelsea

Eden Hazard announced on Twitter last night that he would be joining the Champions League Winners. As he didn't specify which year, we can only presume he means Chelsea. Of all the teams in all the world he had to pick fucking Chelsea. Still, with the absence of Drogba, Chelsea will now be immeasurably more entertaining to watch. Just as long as they can keep Terry and Lampard off my screen for as long as possible.

Hazard, meanwhile, is training with the Belgian team in Angleur ahead of their friendly match against England on Saturday (ITV1, kick off 17:15).

France 3 - 2 Iceland

Asslandic Gylfi Sigurdsson and Yohan Cabaye

Norway 0 - 1 England

Before ...

... after

and nothing of note in between. 

Fookin' Elle - Beckham makes a splash on front cover



Open images in new tab for full size

26 May 2012

Euro 2012: Ones to watch, part one

 Wojciech Szczesny, Poland

Olivier Giroud, France

Mathieu Debuchy, France

Germany, en masse

Anthony Reveillere, France

Martin Kelly, England

Lukas Podolski, Germany

Olivier Giroud, France

Olivier Giroud, France



Laurent Koscielny, France 

Laurent Koscielny & Hatem Ben Arfa, France

22 May 2012

Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay speaks about Didier Drogba

"Didier is undoubtedly a Chelsea legend and will always be part of the Chelsea family. He is certainly leaving on a high after Saturday night but he feels the time is right for a new challenge. Of course Didier has contributed so much to all of Chelsea's recent successes. He has been a consummate professional during his entire time here and as one of the natural leaders in our squad he has been an inspiration to a lot of our younger players.

"We have known for some time that this outcome was likely but Didier and the club only made a final decision on that in the last couple of days, because for obvious reasons neither Didier nor the club wanted to distract focus away from the Champions League Final. The talks were amicable all the way through and we wish him all the best for the future. He is welcome back to Stamford Bridge at any time - either as a player or as a guest of ours."

UPDATE 15.47 :
Didier Drogba has released the following statement: "I wanted to put an end to all the speculation and confirm that I am leaving Chelsea. It has been a very difficult decision for me to make, but I am very proud of what we have achieved


As a team we have accomplished so much, and have won every single trophy possible. Saturday was a very special moment for everyone at the club and for all the fans, and I am very proud to have played my part in bringing many trophies to this club which has been my home for the last 8 years.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at the club especially Roman, and my team mates, many of whom have become very close friends and will be my friends for life. I would also like to say a very special thank you to the Chelsea fans, who have shown me so much love and support over the years.

I wish the club all the best and continued success for the future - you will always be in my heart"

15 May 2012

Lukas Podolski steps into Arsenal kit




Photos by Stuart MacFarlane

13 May 2012