Chelsea FC

Oscar's 2nd goal is one of the goals of the session..

Quote:Oscar's 2nd goal is one of the goals of the session..

Hell of a strike that was and to think Souness was debating wether he meant it or not, he's a classy little player. Seen quite a few clips of some of his goals when he played in Brazil and he's certainly got a few in his locker.

Chelsea statement:

Quote:Chelsea Football Club today lodged a formal complaint with The Football Association regarding inappropriate language directed at John Mikel Obi by referee Mark Clattenburg. This is a result of a thorough investigation carried out by the club, and led by outside legal counsel, of all information available to us including interviews with a number of players and staff.

Following Sunday's Premier League game against Manchester United, club board members were quickly made aware, upon entering the home dressing room after the final whistle, that there were allegations of inappropriate language directed at Chelsea FC players by Mr Clattenburg during the game.

Board members began establishing the details of the allegations, speaking to all relevant players and staff. After those initial interviews it was clear that the matter had to be reported. The correct protocol for doing so was to report the incidents to the match delegate, and the club took immediate steps to inform him as soon as he was available. It was not a decision the club took lightly.

Since reporting the matter to the delegate, the club and outside legal counsel have conducted further investigations. Having completed that process we have now followed the correct protocol and lodged a formal complaint with The FA regarding John Mikel Obi. There was not sufficient evidence to support a second claim to The FA with regard to the alleged verbal abuse of another first team player.

We will cooperate fully with The FA and the Police as they each investigate the matter. As events on Sunday are now subject to those investigations we are unable to comment further until those processes are complete.

This is from The Independent newspaper. It's a detailed explanation of why Chelsea decided to take the risky step of pursuing a complaint against referee Mark Clattenburg.

Quote:Chelsea are well aware that should the FA and police investigations show that Mark Clattenburg did not racially abuse John Obi Mikel in last Sunday's match against Manchester United, the club would face an enormous backlash. However, the club felt that they had to make the complaint because otherwise they would have faced the even more explosive charge of trying to cover up alleged racial abuse. More so as Mikel, who was allegedly called a monkey, and Ramires, who also claims to have heard it, felt very strongly on this issue.

It is now possible to reveal what led Chelsea to take the unprecedented step of accusing a referee of behaving in a racist manner. There were some post-match suggestions that the club had engineered these complaints against Clattenburg but, in fact, Chelsea were not looking for any such confrontation. However, this changed when it emerged that several players were furious about what they deemed to be insulting language used by Clattenburg, not only towards Mikel but also towards Juan Mata, who allegedly was labelled a "Spanish twat". Bruce Buck, the Chelsea chairman and a lawyer, who was in the directors' dining room, was told about the incidents. He came to the dressing room to talk to the players. It was clear Mikel and Ramires, both of whom claimed they heard Clattenburg call Mikel a monkey, were very upset.

Chelsea were only able to talk to the Premier League match delegate about the Mikel and Mata incidents an hour and a half after the match. The delegate explained that the appropriate procedure was for him to inform his superior, who would then inform the FA.By then Chelsea had carefully weighed up their options. As they saw it, they had a duty of care to their players. They also had to take into consideration FA rule E 14, which basically says a participant, meaning club, shall immediately report to the association any incident or matter which may be considered to be misconduct. Misconduct is a defined term under the FA regulations and includes such alleged racial behaviour.

Chelsea also had to consider the Equality Act 2010, which imposes an obligation on an employer to act if an employee believes he or she has been subjected to discrimination by third parties, such as a customer. In this case Clattenburg would be judged to be a third party. The club also weighed up possible press and public reactions should it emerge that two black players had lodged accusations of being racially abused but Chelsea had done nothing about it. The club's fear, having gone through the John Terry affair, was that they would then be accused of a cover-up of alleged racial abuse of their own players. It was this that led to Sunday's statement about the two incidents alleged by Mikel and Mata.

Things moved up a gear when, following the match delegate's report, the FA asked Chelsea whether they were going to make a formal complaint. External lawyers were called in, witness statements taken from players and it was decided there was not enough evidence to proceed with the allegation regarding Mata. The player himself had not heard it; a team-mate claimed he had. But Mikel was adamant that he had been called a monkey and Ramires was doubly certain. Ramires is believed to have made the point that as a black Brazilian playing in Portugal he was often called monkey and would recognise the word in any language. I understand he was not prepared to back down on this. Chelsea decided the Mikel allegation had to be proceeded with.

Oh well Di Matteo been sacked.

they could hardly wait to get him out. feel a bit sorry for him.

I knew it was gonna happen after he won the champions league they had to put him in charge even tho they really wanted Pep Guardiola so they give Di Matteo a short term contact so they could get rid of him. They'll get Pep Guardiola next year to run the club next mark my words on that.

(21-11-2012 10:14 )kalel76 Wrote:  They'll get Pep Guardiola next year to run the club next mark my words on that.

But what about this season? Rafa Benitez is the odds-on favourite to take over with his appointment being expected to be announced as early as today. And what if he does well? What if he wins the league with Chelsea - would they still go for Guardiola then?

(21-11-2012 11:59 )William H Bonney Wrote:  

(21-11-2012 10:14 )kalel76 Wrote:  They'll get Pep Guardiola next year to run the club next mark my words on that.

But what about this season? Rafa Benitez is the odds-on favourite to take over with his appointment being expected to be announced as early as today. And what if he does well? What if he wins the league with Chelsea - would they still go for Guardiola then?

Knowing what Abramovich is like he probably still will.

whos next!