retired_amyslack

The Mirror
Thursday October 28th, 2004
Ronny Double Kills Off Canaries

It appears that Chelsea manager Yuri Djerkinov doesn’t place too much importance on the League Cup as he made wholesale changes to his team selection for the visit of Norwich in the 3rd round. His second string was still good enough to make most of the running but the Canaries defence held firm for 90 minutes to force extra time. A shortage of fit strikers has forced Chelsea to recall Carlton Cole from his loan deal at Aston Villa and the 21-year-old started up front alongside Eidur Gudjohnson and Arjen Robben was given his first start now that he is back in full training. The introduction of Ronaldinho at the start of the extra half hour made the difference as he scored twice in a minute in the first period to win the game.

retired_amyslack

The Sunday Telegraph
Sunday October 31st, 2004
All Square At Anfield

Yesterday’s televised encounter between Liverpool and Chelsea ended honours even in a 1-1 draw, although in terms of possession and chances the visitors probably deserved to take full points. It was first blood to the Reds when Luis Garcia swivelled on a Gerrard pass to fire home into the bottom corner after quarter of an hour. Chelsea pressed hard for an equaliser and got their reward on the stroke of half time when Ronaldinho found the top corner with an exquisite free kick from distance. It was more of the same in the second period but Liverpool did enough to keep the Blues at bay and earn a useful point.

retired_amyslack

Decoded Despatch from Agent Sokolov
Monday November 1st, 2004

I am making some progress in my relationship with Miss Brown and although I am gaining her trust it is still far too early to try to compromise her. Yuri Igorevich is settling in very well and is clearly showing some aptitude for the task in hand. He has really cleaned up his act and, to the best of my knowledge, he has not been over-indulging his fondness for Wodka. His biggest problem is that he seems to have absolutely no aptitude for English and this means that I must spend most of my time interpreting for him. This is a mixed blessing as, on the one hand I am always around to ensure that he doesn’t jeopardise the mission but the disadvantage is that it limits the time that I have available to pursue my investigations. As you know we have one Russian player here at Chelsea, Alexei Smertin and the two know each other from their Lokomotiv Moscow days. But I try to limit the amount of time that they spend with one another, as I am concerned that Comrade Djerkinov may get careless and speak out of turn.

Even though I have not been able to access any sensitive financial information yet, it is clear to me that the club is bleeding money. I have ascertained that the weekly wage bill is now over £1M and, according to Miss Brown, their income is just under half of that amount so without the largesse of Abromavich the situation would not be viable. I will continue to investigate this area as a matter of priority. I noticed that when CSKA Moscow visited in the Champions League, Abramovich and his accountant spent several hours in meetings with what I took to be club officials. But the people he met with did not attend the actual match and this aroused my suspicions. I managed to photograph two of them and I will transmit the shots separately so that you can run an ID check.

retired_amyslack

The Observer
Thursday November 4th, 2004
Chelsea Resurrect Champions League Campaign

A second successive victory over CSKA Moscow has put Chelsea firmly on course to qualify for the knockout stage of the Champions League. Having had a comfortable win at Stamford Bridge a fortnight ago they followed this up with a vibrant attacking display in Moscow to gain a 2-0 win. The excellent Ronaldinho got them off to a great start with a goal after 6 minutes and Eidur Gujohnsen added a second on the hour mark. A 2-1 win for Celtic at home to Sparta Prague has guaranteed their progression and if Chelsea get one more win, or even just avoid defeat in their final game in Prague, then they will join the Scots in the next round.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | Celtic | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 10 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Chelsea | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 7 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Sparta Prague | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 3 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | CSKA Moscow | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 8 | -7 | 1 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

retired_amyslack

The Sunday Times
Sunday November 7th, 2004
Dominant Chelsea Win Again

A 2-0 win at home to Birmingham maintained Chelsea’s unbeaten Premiership record and were it not for a superb performance by visiting keeper Nico Vaesen the winning margin would have been much greater. The experienced Belgian stopper made some excellent stops in the first half to keep that game scoreless at the break but he could do nothing about Frank Lampard’s opening goal, the midfielder netting with a stunning cross shot from the edge of the area. Substitute Kezman wrapped the game up in stoppage time, tapping in a superb cutback from the brilliant Ronaldinho.


The Sun
Thursday November 11th, 2004
Spurs Dump Chelski Out Of League Cup

A first-half strike from goal ace Jermain Defoe was enough to give his side victory in the all-London League Cup 4th round tie at Stamford Bridge last night. Chelsea manager Yuri Djerkinov made a number of changes to his lineup for this game and the visitors took advantage to book their place in the Quarter Finals.

retired_amyslack

Decoded Despatch to Agent Sokolov From Moscow
Tuesday November 16th, 2004

Subject One in recent photographs identified as Vlaidmir “The Impaler� Smirnoff, a known criminal and member of the Russian Mafia. Smirnoff is a vicious and dangerous man and has been implicated in a number of underworld killings. His preferred method of execution is to skewer his victim on a steel or iron rod, usually when the unfortunate individual is still alive. He is not a man to take lightly and we encourage you to proceed with caution. Smirnoff’s whereabouts are currently unknown but we do not believe that he returned to Russia. Subject Two has not been positively identified but is suspected to be Aleksandr Bezushko, a Ukranian associate of Smirnoff who has also been linked to organised crime in the former Soviet republic. Ensure that comrade Titov is fully briefed on this development and that the two of you remain vigilant.

retired_amyslack

The Sunday Telegraph
Sunday November 21st, 2004
United Win Old Trafford Goal Fest

Man United triumphed over Chelsea in an exciting encounter at Old Trafford yesterday to inflict the Londoner’s first league defeat of the season. The home side got off to a flying start with goals from Wayne Rooney and Ruud van Nistelrooy inside the first ten minutes. But Chelsea came storming back and were on terms within 15 minutes as first Didier Drogba and then Frank Lampard found the net. The excitement continued after the break when van Nistelrooy scored his second of the match within minutes of the restart. Chelsea spurned a number of excellent scoring chances thereafter with Ronaldinho particularly guilty in front of goal. With Arsenal winning at home to Charlton they replace Chelsea at the top of the Premiership.

retired_amyslack

The Daily Mail
Wednesday November 24th, 2004
Drogba Double Takes Chelsea Through

Didier Drogba scored both goals in Chelsea’s 2-1 win at home to Celtic in their Champions League encounter last night to make sure that his team qualified for the knockout stage of the competition. The first came inside quarter of an hour when the big Frenchman was first to reach a Robben cross to head home. The same pair combined in the second half, this time Robben slotting a ball through the middle of the Celtic defence for Drogba to finish neatly. Celtic pulled a goal back through youngster Shaun Maloney but they were unable to force an equaliser and Chelsea hung on for the win.

retired_amyslack

The Independent On Sunday
Sunday November 28th, 2004
Rock Bottom Palace Lose Again

Crystal Palace slumped to their 11th defeat in 16 league games and have yet to register a win in the Premiership. They could not have realistically expected to have returned form their London derby at Chelsea with much to show for their efforts but to give them their due they worked hard to get men behind the ball and make life difficult for their hosts. But in the mercurial Ronaldinho, Chelsea have a player with the skills to unlock the most stubborn of defences and he scored twice in each half to give his team a comfortable 2-0 win.


Decoded Despatch from Agent Sokolov
Wednesday December 1st, 2004

I can confirm that subject Smirnoff has not returned to the motherland as I encountered him briefly a few days ago. I had arrived at the training ground early in the morning with comrade Djerkinov to prepare for a tactical session when I saw him leaving. My relationship with Miss Brown is progressing very satisfactorily and I feel that I may be close to obtaining sufficient information to allow me to access the computerised accounting system. I will also take steps to uncover more about the relationship between Abramovich and Smirnoff. My earlier hopes that Djerkinov was in control of his Wodka habit appear to have been premature as he has taken to the bottle with a vengeance recently. But I must report that it has not had a detrimental effect on his work – if anything he is working even more effectively with his players than before.

retired_amyslack

The Sunday Mirror
Sunday December 5th, 2004
Canaries Plucked By Chelsea

A goal down inside the first minute after Chelsea captain John Terry headed home a corner from Ronaldinho, Norwich City dug in and put up a brave fight for the next hour or so. But as the luckless Canaries were disrupted by a succession of injuries, the visitors began to get on top. Substitute Meteja Kezman scored with 20 minutes remaining and Frank Lampard struck twice in the last five minutes, his second coming from the penalty spot. The 4-0 scoreline was scant reward for their efforts and Nigel Worthington’s team stay just