Nicolas Anelka on Friday on chelseafc.com insisted he is looking at team victories and points in the bag rather than individual goal totals. If that be the case, After The Whistle is going to study our striker's performance in hitting the target for him.

Two more contrasting goals than those at Blackburn would be hard to find, and although it would be generous to suggest his role in the first goal was premeditated (although he was perfectly-placed to follow-up had the initial shot been spilled by the in-form Paul Robinson), the second was exactly the type of goal from which Anelka made his name - the dart away from the attentions of the defender, alive to the midfield launching an attack, and the instinctive one-on-one finish against the goalkeeper.

The technique involved on that pitch should not to be underestimated.

He now has 10 goals in the league this season, and with 26 games remaining, needs just eight more to surpass his previous Premier League best, achieved in his final Arsenal season when a total of 17 was beaten by one goal by Michael Owen, Dwight Yorke and Leeds-owned Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

At Man City five years ago, Nicolas netted 16 goals. In his previous seasons in English league football combined, he has averaged a goal every 2.8 games. This season at a goal every 1.2 games, he is shooting well under par.

As a result of this weekend's Blackburn brace, the Lancashire club becomes the side most vulnerable to an Anelka attack, having conceded 10 goals to him down the years. Everton with seven, are the next most profitable.

When the second goal went in on Sunday with over 20 minutes still to go, After The Whistle can't have been alone in wondering if consecutive Anelka league hat-tricks were on the cards - and but for the width of Robinson's right shin, that would have come to pass.

The last Chelsea player to achieve that feat? Not a Dixon, nor a Tambling, nor a Greaves despite his 13 hat-tricks. It was the lesser known William Whitton, who knocked three past Oldham and Leicester in September 1924 - a couple of seasons before he had his contract cancelled 'due to loss of form'.

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Half-time chat at soggy Ewood Park revolved around the weather conditions which, for anyone not present, progressed as follows: kick-off - heavy rain; 10 minutes in - biblical downpour, 15 mins - puddles visible on the pitch; 20 mins - the rain doubles in intensity and everyone begins to guess when a rearranged game might be schedule; 35 mins - the rain thankfully eases; second-half - rain stops.

Following on from the saturated Sunderland home game and then rainy Rome, the players must be forgetting what it's like to perform on a dry surface, and one football manager who was a spectator at the Blackburn game ran through the processes that, in his experience, may or may not lead to an abandonment in bad weather.

The safety of players becomes a consideration for the fourth official especially when water starts forming on the surface he explained.

The officials start to consider what the weather forecast is and whether the game can reach half time, then how much the groundstaff might be able to work on the surface.

'Once it goes to 1-0, though, it becomes a different situation for the officials,' he joked.

After The Whistle is pleased to confirm the pitch sprinklers were not called upon during the midway break.

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Birthday wishes so good they sung them twice. That was how Felipe Scolari's special day was celebrated in the team's north-west hotel the night before he began his seventh decade.

A cake (jam sponge with white icing for any baking enthusiasts) and a glass of champagne accompanied the moment, plus a sing-a-long Elvis number on the guitar from the team's chef Darren and - for some reason - two versions of Happy Birthday To You, with a mix of Dear Felipe, Dear Boss, Dear Gaffer and more inserted into the third line depending on the singer.

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As we like to do following a weekend of football across Europe, After The Whistle has been checking up on our Champions League Group A opponents and Bordeaux, our hosts in a fortnight, continue on good form, following up their European win in Romania.

They beat Auxerre 2-0 at home on Saturday, maintaining third place in Ligue 1, the goals coming from Fernando Cavenaghi and Marouane Chamakh.

However it wasn't all plain sailing for the French side who will be waiting anxiously on the recovery of goalkeeper Matthieu Valverde, knocked unconscious during the weekend's game.

Ulrich Ramé, who was between the posts at the Bridge back in September, is already out injured for a month, so should Valverde not recover in time, it would put 20-year-old third-choice Kevin Olimpa in goal against Chelsea.

CFR Cluj continue to occupy a mid-table position in the Romanian league following a 1-1 away draw with Brasov. They are seventh.

There was frustration for Roma who could have opened a gap between themselves and the relegation positions ahead of next weekend's Rome derby, had it not been for a 90^th minute Cicinho own-goal equaliser for Bologna - a diving header from the Roma full-back making it 1-1.

It was day for last minute goals in Italy, José Mourinho's Inter requiring one to beat Udinese in a top-of-table clash. Former Chelsea player Tiago was a star in Juventus's 2-0 win over Chievo, Claudio Ranieri's side now sixth.

After the Whistle was treated to a glimpse of the Italian press interrogating an under siege manager in Rome last week.

Luciano Spalletti was given a tough enough time in his press conference before the Roma v Chelsea game, but afterwards, despite the 3-1 win, he was asked: 'How come you decided to play with a tactic of four midfielders? Was it just that it couldn't be any worse than the last few games?' Ouch!

afterthewhistle@chelseafc.com