FA Cup quarter final Preview: Chelsea vs Leicester City

By Tony Alvarez

This weekend sees the FA Cup 6th round fixtures take place with sides hoping to cause upsets up and down the country and reach the semi finals of arguably the Worlds greatest Cup competition.

As regular visitors to the website will know both myself and Laurie chose a side to follow in round one of the competition, should that side lose we follow the side that beat them.

I initially started off with Colchester United who lost out to Swindon who in turn lost to Leicester in round four I followed Leicester through their 5^th round victory vsNorwich and will now look ahead to their real glamour tie away to Champions League quarter finalists, big spending Chelsea.

Hodgson’s buoyant Baggies justify Peace’s big decision

By Laurie Fitzgerald

West Brom travel to Old Trafford this afternoon in search of a record-breaking fourth consecutive Premier League victory as they aim for their first ever top-half finish in the league’s existence.

Wins over Wolves, Sunderland and Chelsea have propelled the Baggies from potentially being dragged into a relegation battle to firmly securing their top-flight status and look forward to a third consecutive season amongst England’s elite - another first in their Premier League history.

Ironically, Chelsea’s decision to sack manager Andre Villas-Boas saw them replace their Portuguese boss with a man that was at the centre of a major turning point in West Brom’s Premier League future.

Last year, Roberto Di Matteo was at the helm and winning many plaudits after guiding the Midlands club to the Premier League in his first season in charge with a positive attacking style earning them famous wins away at the likes of Arsenal and Everton.

But when the side went on a run of four points from a possible 27, Chairman Jeremy Peace had a big decision to make; stick with the man that had guided the club back to the top-flight, or find someone with greater experience in the hope of coming in and securing long-awaited stability in the biggest league in the world.     

Is the Champions League the lifeline for Villas-Boas?

By Laurie Fitzgerald

The undoubted growing pressure on Andre Villas-Boas only served to increase at the weekend after they were booed off in a disappointing 1-1 home draw to Championship side Birmingham City in their FA Cup fifth round tie.

It was a result that clearly did not go down well within the Stamford Bridge heirarchy either, with a shake of the head from Chief Executive Ron Gourlay and a stern expression from Chairman Bruce Buck evident at the final whistle.

While Birmingham deserved great credit for an excellent performance that merited a replay at St. Andrews, much was made of the lack of creativity and a cutting edge in the Premier League big boys.

This latest setback for the Blues means it’s no win in their last four matches, and comes during a period where the focus on the manager has never been more scrutinised.  

Is Villas-Boas too inexperienced to topple Alex Ferguson?

By Tony Alvarez

Today sees the meeting of the two biggest clubs in England
over the last few seasons, Manchester United vs Chelsea, there will be many key
battles in this fixture Rooney vs Terry Mata vs Smalling but the biggest will
be Chelsea and Premier League new boy Andre Villas-Boas and the legendary Sir
Alex Ferguson.

This is an intriguing battle as it sees the Premier Leagues
oldest and most experienced manager face off against the League’s youngest and
in terms of English Football the most inexperienced.

Although Villas-Boas is inexperienced in terms of management
in English Football he is by no means a newcomer to the English league, he
worked at Chelsea underneath the special one Jose Mourinho he also has pedigree
in his own right. In his first season as a manager with Porto he won a treble
of domestic league and cup and the Europa League.

Of course Sir Alex Ferguson has a long list of credentials
which speak for themselves, if I were to list them all it would be a whole
article on its own but you cannot forget that his side are the current champions
of the English Premier league and were runners up in the Champions League.

United welcome Chelsea to Old Trafford on the back of
arguable their most impressive ever start to a Premier League season, in the
four games played so far United have achieved maximum points and a stunning
goal difference of +15, what’s more impressive is this feat has been achieved without
their first choice central defence pairing of Vidic and Ferdinand for all but
one half of Football.

Chelsea’s start has been almost as successful but far less
impressive, the season started with a draw at Stoke I personally believe that will
be seen as a good hard earned point as the Brittannia stadium is not an easy
place to go.

Since the opening day draw Chelsea have recorded victories
over West Brom and Norwich at home and Sunderland away, all of this has left
them with a goal difference of +4.

Both clubs come into this fixture on the back of midweek
Champions League fixtures, a much changed United side travelled to Portuguese
side Benfica and came home with a 1-1 draw thanks to a goal from the evergreen
Ryan Giggs.

Chelsea welcomed German side Bayern Leverkusen to Stamford
Bridge and recorded a 2-0 win thanks to goals from David Luiz and summer
signing Juan Mata.

Due to the high level of performance early season from both
Manchester United and their rivals Manchester City many fans pundits and so
called experts have labelled this seasons title race as a two horse race and
have completely discounted Villas-Boas Chelsea side.

This was something United manager Sir Alex Ferguson
dismissed in his pre match press conference and a point Villas-Boas and his
Chelsea side will be eager to prove wrong.

With the return to fitness of Javier Hernandez United are
likely to revert back to the 4-4-2 system which served them so well last term
with man of the moment Wayne Rooney deployed just behind Hernandez.

Chelsea in their last few outings have favoured a 4-3-3
formation with Mata and Daniel Sturridge either side of either Nicolas Anelka
or record signing Fernando Torres. The Spaniard has struggled for form since
his January arrival at the West London side and this will be a tough call for
Villas-Boas.

I think a United win is likely but I do not think it will be
as easy as many predict, Chelsea are never easy to beat and Villas Boas knows
what its like to go into high pressure games and win.

Ii i were a betting man my money would go on a 2-1 or a 2-0
won to Manchester United as both teams are reasonably tight at the back.

What are your
thoughts? Has Villas Boas got what it takes to topple Sir Alex? Who should
Chelsea start up front? What’s your score line prediction? Leave a comment and
let us know your thoughts.

If you are on Twitter please follow us @sfts1

11-12 preview part 4 Arsenal-Chelsea + predicted table

By Tony Alvarez

In preparation for the big kick-off Shouts from the Stands is doing a club-by-club preview of all 20 teams.

However, instead of the usual alphabetical order of Arsenal to Wolves, we’re doing things the other way around to give fans of clubs that usually have to wait until the end of a season preview the chance to focus on their teams first. Then on Saturday, the SFTS lads will be revealing their predictions for how the table will look come the end of May.

We have previously looked at 15 Premier League sides and in our final installment we look atChelsea, Bolton,Blackburn, Aston Villa and Arsenal.

Chelsea

Last Season: 2nd

Summer so far: Chelsea have not had the best of summers, it started off with the sacking of Carlo Ancelotti and the appointment of former Porto manager Andre Villas-Boas.

The club have been rumoured to have missed out on many of Villas-Boas top targets including Javier Pastore who moved to Paris Saint Germain and in one of the sagas of the summer theWest Londonclub are still no where nearer to signing Luka Modric from rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

However things are looking up as they look increasingly closer to signing young Belgium striker Romelu lukaku.

Transfers In: Oriol Romeu (Barcelona)

Transfers Out: Yuri Zhirkov (FC AnzhiMakhachkala) Sam Walker (Northampton- Loan) Jack Cork (Southampton) Fabio Borini (Parma) Michael Mancienne (Hamburg) Danny Philliskirk (SheffieldUnited)

Manager: Andre Villas-Boas

New man Villas-Boas had an unbelievable season last year with FC Porto winning the League and Cup double as well as the Europa League.

The 33 year old is the youngest manager in the Premier League and is inexperienced with only 2 years as a manager of a professional side under his belt.

Chelsea are believed to of paid Porto £13 million for Villas-Boas services which is a world record fee for a manager.

Famously Villas-Boas was taken under the wing of Bobby Robson at a young age, following a spell in charge of the British Virgin Islands he returned to Porto as a coach underChelseaformer manager Jose Mourinho, as Mourinho moved to Chelsea and Inter Milan Villas-Boas followed.

Although he done outstandingly well at Porto this will be the first time Villas-Boas will be under a major spotlight with the hounding of the press every time his side has a negative result, only time will tell how well equipped he is to handle that pressure.

Key Man: Fernando Torres –

Many we disagree with me on seeing Torres as the key man in theChelseasquad but his performances could well shape their season.

Its well known that Chairman Roman Abramovich has a say in who is put on the pitch and having spent £50 million on the Spaniard he will not want him sitting on the bench.

Should he return to his best form then he will be one of the first names on Villas-Boas team sheet, should he display the form he did at the back end of last season then Villas-Boas will look to drop him which could cause an early rift between chairman and manager.

Bolton

Last Season: 14th

Summer so far: The club have been desperately unlucky with injuries already having suffered two broken legs already.

New boy Tyrone Mears and Korean winger Chung-Yong Lee have both been ruled out for around 6 months of the season and are unlikely to return to full match fitness until around April by which time it could be too late to effect the clubs season.

The club have looked to build on their squad whilst spending very little, there summer has been somewhat disrupted by the speculation around a move for commanding centre back Gary Cahill who has long been a target of both Arsenal and Liverpool.

Transfers In: Tuncay (Wolfsburg- Loan) Tyrone Mears (Burnley) Chris Eagles (Burnley) Nigel Reo-Coker (Aston Villa) Darren Pratley (Swansea)

Transfers Out: Matthew Taylor (West Ham) Ali Al-Habsi (Wigan) Johan Elmander (Galatasaray)

Manager: Owen Coyle–

Coyle took over at Bolton in January 2010 leaving aBurnleyside he had led to the Premier League.

Since taking over aBoltonboss Coyle has looked to steady the ship and take them from relegation candidates to a solid mid table side with real aspirations.

He has also got the side playing a more attractive style of Football and has utilised the loan market to the maximum bringing in England star Jack Wilshere in his first month in charge at Bolton, in January 2011 Coyle moved to bring in Chelsea player and England under 21 international Daniel Sturridge who shone in his time at Bolton.

Key Man: Kevin Davies –

Davies has beenBolton’s star man for a while now and I see very little changing this term.

Although many would expect more goals from a striker who is labeled as key man, Davies is the focal point of all of Bolton’s attacking football whether its winning flick ons for his team mates or bringing the ball down for his on coming midfielders.

His heading ability when defending set pieces is also a valuable asset for Bolton.

Blackburn

Last Season: 15th

Summer so far: Like so many other clubsBlackburn’s summer has revolved around transfers away from the club, early in the summer they lost young defender Phil Jones and have still not been able to get away from speculation linking their captain Chris Samba with a move away from the club.

The clubs owners Venky’s don’t seem to be backing manager Steve Kean financially despite reports in January that the owners wanted to bring in a star name.

To me it looks likeBlackburnare entering the season no stronger than they finished the last campaign which wasn’t a glowing one.

Transfers In: David Goodwillie (Dundee United) Radosav Petrovic (PartizanBelgrade) Bruno Riberio (Gremio)

Transfers Out: Phil Jones (Manchester United) Nikola Kalinic ( Dnipro ) Jason Brown, Benjani, Maceo Rigters (Unattached)

Manager: Steve Kean –

Kean was appointed Blackburn manager in strange circumstances in December 2010 after the surprise sacking of former manager Sam Allardyce who brought Kean to the club as his assistant.

Kean had never previously been the manager of a side but had roles as assistant manager with Coventry Fulham and Real Sociedad.

Kean was initially handed a contract until the end of the 2011 season but he was quickly offered an accepted a deal to stay on as Blackburn manager until June 2013.

Key Man: Chris Samba-

For a while now Samba has been the rock that Blackburn’s defence has been built around, I was hesitant to name his as Rovers key player as there are many signs he will not be a Blackburnplayer on Sept 1^st.

Should Samba leave Blackburn could be in big trouble and I personally feel had it not been for his contribution last season Blackburn would already be a Championship side.

Aston Villa

Last Season: 9th

Summer so far:

There have been big changes at Villa this summer as Gerard Houllier was deemed unfit to come back to his job atVilla Parkand manager of fierce rivals Birmingham City Alex McLeish much to the dismay of a section of Villa fans.

On top of that they have lost a couple of first team regulars and England internationals but my personal opinion is that McLeish has done well with the replacements he has brought in and to me the squad look in good shape.

Transfers In: Shay Given (Manchester City) Charles N’Zogbia (Wigan)

Transfers Out: Ashley Young (ManchesterUnited) Stewart Downing ( Liverpool) Nigel Reo-Coker (Bolton) Brad Friedel (Tottenham) John Carew, Robert Pires, Isaiah Osbourne (Unattached)

Manager: Alex McLeish –

As mentioned above McLeish’s appointment wasn’t initially welcomed by many Villa supporters as they could not look past his ties with fierce rivalsBirminghamCity. He seemingly won the majority over quite quickly with a couple of good signings, if many of the fans are still against his appointment they seem to be less vocal than they previously were.

As a manager McLeish has managed 5 clubs including Villa and has also been at the helm of the Scottish national side.

He has to date spent four years inEnglandas a manager all atBirmingham, he lead them to the 2011 Carling Cup as well as the English Championship in 08-09.

Key Man: Darren Bent-

 Darren Bent has been prolific almost every where he has been Tottenham aside, Villa paid big money for the England hit man in January 2011 and many will credit his goals with Aston Villa’s survival in the 2010-11 season.

Goals are expected of Bent and with the price tag Villa paid for him they will be expected, as good a player as Agbonlahor is he is not known for his goal scoring prowess so that burden will fall heavily on Bent’s shoulders.

He has proved he is more than capable of living up to this role but Villa fans will be looking for the here and now rather than what he has done in the past.

Arsenal

Last Season: 4th

Summer so far: It has been a turbulent summer for the Gunners with constant speculation over the future of captain Cesc Fabregas and play maker Samir Nasri.

Pre season has not been fantastic on the pitch for Arsenal, with only 2 victories in 6 friendly fixtures.

Off the pitch the friendlies were very worth while with the club trying to tap into the Asian market which looked like an exercise that went well especially considering the emergence of Ryo Miyachi.

Arsenal would of preferred to start the season off on more stable ground but are not in awful shape for the big kick off.

Transfers In: Gervinho (Lille) Carl Jenkinson (Charlton Athletic) Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Southampton)

Transfers Out: GaelClichy(ManchesterCity) Denilson (Sao Paolo-Loan) Jay Emmanuel Thomas (Ipswich) Kyle Bartley ( Rangers- Loan)

Manager: Arsene Wenger –

Wenger is the second longest serving manager in the Premier League following the great Sir Alex Ferguson.

Despite recent criticism for leading the northLondonside through a trophy drought he is still the most successful manager in the clubs history.

He is well known for the brand of Football he gets his sides playing and his shrewdness in the transfer market, which has often led to him being labeled as tight by fans/the media.

He is known as Le Prof for both his look and his astute and forward thinking approach to the game, he is often credited with changing the way the game is played inEngland.

Wenger was given a top honour in January 2011 when he was named World coach of the decade narrowly beating Sir Alex Ferguson and Real Madrid’s Jose Mourinho.

Key Man: Robin Van Persie

The Dutch man ended the season in fantastic form and left many fans what might have been had he been fit for the whole season.

No one will ever doubt the ability Van Persie has but his lack of time on the pitch due to injuries is frustrating for both players and fans.

Many may be shocked I have highlighted Van Persie as the key man but with the likely sales of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, Arsenal have no proven goal scores in the Premier League.

It was a tough call between Thomas Vermaelen and Van Persie but Arsenal are no longer the type of team to hold out for 1-0 victories therefore they are going to need to find goals from somewhere and at the moment Van Persie is the only player that’s proved he can do that.

Remember Van Persie has scored in more consecutive away games than any other Premier League player in history, a record that’s still going from last season and one that he will hope to continue at St James Park today.

Laurie’s predicted Premier League table:

1. Manchester United
2. Manchester City
3. Chelsea
4. Arsenal
5. Liverpool
6. Tottenham
7. Everton
8. Stoke
9. Aston Villa
10. Fulham
11. Sunderland
12. Bolton
13. West Brom
14. Newcastle
15. Wolves
16. Blackburn
17. Swansea
18. Norwich
19. Wigan
20. QPR

Tony’s predicted Premier League table:

1.  Manchester United
2.  Manchester City
3. Chelsea
4. Liverpool
5. Arsenal
6. Tottenham
7. Everton
8.  Aston Villa
9.  Stoke
10.  Fulham
11. Sunderland
12.  Bolton
13.  Newcastle
14.  West Brom
15.  Wolves
16.  QPR
17.  Blackburn
18.  Swansea
19.  Wigan
20.  Norwich

So what do you think? How will your team fare this season?  What is your predicted table? Leave it in a comment and we will see come the end of the season who faired best.

Summer Review Part Four: Villas-Boas’ arrival perfect time for shake up in Blues’ squad

Villas-Boas has become the youngest manager in the Premier League

By Laurie Fitzgerald

After a lengthy search following the sacking of Carlo Ancelotti, Chelsea announced last week that Andre Villas-Boas was their new manager.

The 33 year-old joins from Porto in a world-record deal for a coach after Blues owner Roman Abramovich agreed to pay the £13.3 million release clause that was inserted in Villas-Boas’ contract.

Having learnt his trade working under Jose Mourinho at both Porto and Chelsea, Villas-Boas has shown his managerial abilities in just a short space of time, guiding the Portuguese giants to four trophies last season, including their domestic title and the Europa League.

It’s a bold move by Abramovich to go for youth ahead of experience, but he seems to have tired of banking that elusive Champions League success on managers with a proven track record.

The likes of Ancelotti, Mourinho, Claudio Ranieri, Avram Grant and Guus Hiddink all tried and ultimately failed in bringing European football’s ultimate prize to Stamford Bridge.

However, one of the biggest reasons in recent seasons is not necessarily the shortcomings of the management, but of an ageing squad.

The majority of the playing staff have been at Chelsea since the spending spree of their Russian billionaire owner was at its peak in 2004.

Players such as Frank Lampard, John Terry and Didier Drogba have been outstanding in bringing success to the West London club, with three Premier League titles already to their name.

It would be shortsighted to sell all their star names – in particular Lampard and Terry, who epitomise the heart, passion and consistency that inspire others.

But there comes a time when a new team needs to be created in order to replicate the kind of success that this current Chelsea set-up have achieved.

While Ancelotti can feel aggrieved at his sacking in May, one criticism that could be levelled at the Italian was his refusal to make changes to the squad following their double triumph in 2009/10.

Chelsea started last season like a house on fire, destroying teams for fun. But a mid-season slump demonstrated the possibility that this group of players cannot maintain their expected levels of consistency throughout a whole campaign anymore.

52 year-old Ancelotti did a similar thing whilst manager at AC Milan which eventually caught up with him, and it is only since the Milan squad invested in younger players such as Robinho and Kevin Prince-Boateng that the glory days have returned to the red part of the San Siro, winning the Serie A title last season.

Villas-Boas will take charge of a squad where many of the key players will be of a similar age to him. This doesn’t mean he won’t have the respect of them, especially when you consider that he has worked with them before.

What can be asked is how they will react to him if they go through a similar slump that they suffered last year, and whether or not his inexperience will then count against him.

Abramovich already knows this, which is why he has tried to sign younger players such as 25 year-old Spurs midfielder Luka Modric even when there wasn’t a manager in place.

The Blues continue to be linked with the Croation maestro, while they have also been linked with some of Porto’s best players including prolific striker Radamel Falcao and midfielder Joao Moutinho.

Last January also saw the arrival of the likes of David Luiz and Fernando Torres, who are at an age where they can be part of the long-term plans at the Bridge.

These kind of signings can help Villas-Boas not only bring a successful new era to Chelsea, but also give him the greatest chance to succeed where his predecessors failed on the biggest stage of all.

So what do you think? Is Villas-Boas the right man to take charge of Chelsea? Will there need to be a youthful investment into the current squad? Let us know your thoughts.