Chelseafc.com continues a looks back over another eventful year at the club with the words reported at the time. September ends with a home draw and two away victories.

Wins over Man City in the league and Bordeaux in the opening Champions League match had continued a bright start to the season under Luiz Felipe Scolari, even if there had been a departure with potential to unsettle - influential coach Steve Clarke having moved to work with his former colleague Gianfranco Zola at West Ham.

Chelsea moved quickly to bring in Ray Wilkins to fill a gap and Chelseafc.com pounced on the new assistant before he could even get his boots on, and he was clearly happy to be back working with players.

'I am absolutely delighted. I have been out of football a long time,' Wilkins told us. 'My last outing was with Dennis [Wise] a couple of years ago [at Millwall] and it is very pleasant to be back.

'Unfortunately I have not been able to get through a door. Football now is almost like a closed shop so anyone who is out of the game is finding it nearly impossible to get back in, me included.

'So I was thrilled when Peter [Kenyon] phoned me up and said can I come and meet with him. He asked if I can help Felipe out which is an absolute pleasure. It didn't take too many minutes to make the decision.'

Ray's first game on the bench would arguably be as big as they come, at home to Manchester United, another club close to his heart.

We went into the game six points ahead of United who had not enjoyed the best of starts. JT's availability had been confirmed earlier in the week with the suspension following his red card at Man City withdrawn, while for the visitors Cristiano Ronaldo was among the substitutes.

Inseparable in open play in Russia, once again we played out a 1-1 draw as Salomon Kalou rose from the bench to rescue a point 11 minutes from time and maintain our proud home record after Ji-Sung Park had given United an early lead.

Bosingwa had allowed Patrice Evra to battle his way inside him down the left channel and square for Dimitar Berbatov. Although Petr Cech was up to the first shot, he was powerless to prevent Park's follow-up making it 1-0 to the visitors.

The fight back began with a long ball that Gary Neville couldn't deal with. In the race between Edwin Van der Sar and Florent Malouda for the loose ball, the keeper just won, his momentum taking him through the Chelsea winger. Referee Riley was unmoved by penalty appeals but Van der Sar didn't recover and was soon subbed. 

The equaliser came from a rare John Mikel Obi free-kick, Kalou escaping between Berbatov and Rio Ferdinand to head in from eight yards.

'It is a good feeling to come off the bench and score because it is one of my important goals,' he said afterwards.

'I wasn't worried because I have seen Chelsea come out from difficult games. If you watch the game, then it is not a bad result, they could have even won the game, so to come back into the game is a good result.'

Scolari had opted not to make major changes after Bordeaux but was forced into one in the warm-up, Deco's hamstring giving way to Michael Ballack. Shortly into the game Ricardo Carvalho was forced off with a knee problem, Alex the replacement. Both injury victims would endure frustrating campaigns from here onwards.

Chelsea 1-1 Man United at Stamford Bridge on 21-09-2008
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cech; Bosingwa, Carvalho (Alex 11), Terry (c); A Cole; Mikel; J Cole, Ballack (Kalou 73), Lampard, Malouda (Drogba 46); Anelka.
Scorer Kalou 79.
Booked Mikel 67.
Man United (4-4-2): Van der Sar (Kuszczak 31); Neville, Evans, Ferdinand, Evra; Hargreaves, Fletcher, Scholes (Ronaldo 54), Park (O'Shea 73); Rooney, Berbatov.
ScorerPark 18.
Booked Scholes 34, Ferdinand 40, Neville 57, Berbatov 58, Rooney 78, Evra 85, Ronaldo 90+1.

You will note from above the large number of yellow cards picked up by the visitors, a fact commented on by columnist Giles Smith later in the week.

'Ferguson afterwards expressed his surprise at the number of bookings, arguing that there hadn't been a bad tackle in the match. But I could think of at least four - the ones that earned bookings for Neville (tripped Anelka), Rooney (clobbered Ashley Cole), Berbatov (tripped Ballack, his fourth offence) and Scholes (going in from behind and through the player, as usual). And what Ferguson seems to be forgetting is that you can be booked for other things than tackles. Dissent, for instance - which accounts for the other three of United's bookings (Ronaldo, Evra, Ferdinand).

Smith also wrote: 'You'll have seen, I hope, the shot of Mike Phelan, United's assistant manager, innocently bursting a stray balloon in the United dug-out on Sunday and causing Ferguson to jump almost into the middle tier of the East Stand. It's more than worth a trip to youtube if you haven't - not least for the immediate and highly lip-read-able reprimand that Phelan gets from the manager for his carelessness.'

Our League Cup campaign kicked off that same midweek with another 4-0 win over Portsmouth, who were again architects of their own downfall.

Lampard continued his heavy goal return in this competition with the opening strike from the spot and third goal, scored early in the second-half. Malouda netted between those strikes and Kalou completed the party.

There was also a debut for Branislav Ivanovic at right-back, and the Serb impressed in our all-yellow kit.

Portsmouth 0-4 Chelsea at Fratton Park on 24-09-2008
Chelsea (4-1-4-1) Cech; Ivanovic, Alex, Terry (c), Bridge; Belletti; Kalou, Ballack (Ferreira 68), Lampard (Sinclair 73), Malouda; Drogba (Di Santo 79).
Scorers Lampard 35, 47, Malouda 45, Kalou 63.
Booked Ballack 4.
Portsmouth (4-5-1) James; Johnson, Pamarot, Distin (c), Hreidarsson; Utaka, Hughes (Wilson 35), Kaboul, Mvuemba, Belhadj (A Traore 68); Crouch (Kanu 68).
Booked Hreidarsson 34, Hughes 52, Johnson 67.

There was one more player to add to the squad, 33-year-old defensive midfielder Mineiro arriving on a free transfer after leaving Hertha Berlin in the summer. The Brazilian would provide cover for Mikel while Essien recuperated.

The little midfielder joined his team-mates as they prepared for the trip to top flight new boys Stoke, and a date with long throw specialist Rory Delap. Talk was of whether Chelsea would cope with such aerial examination.

The answer was that they could, but they didn't need to with Delap ruled out injured. Despite the presence of their new celebrity fan Sugar Ray Leonard, Stoke lacked punch in the Chelsea half and were despatched with little fuss.

So followed a straightforward 2-0 victory - goals courtesy of a Chelsea first from José Bosingwa and a fourth of the campaign for Nicolas Anelka. The full-back's half-volley came courtesy of a typically-measured Lampard pass and would be a contender for goal of the season.

For the second goal, Bosingwa sent in a devilish cross that bounced in front of a Leon Cort, who could only chest the ball into Anelka's path. The half-time sub's task was simple as he fired low beyond Thomas Sorensen.

'Bosingwa was one player that started as a midfielder. When Porto bought him one coach put him to right-back and he has power, and he can go forward 200 times a game,' Scolari said, perhaps using a little Latin exaggeration.

Stoke 0- 2 Chelsea at Britannia Stadium on 27-09-2008
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cech; Bosingwa, Alex, Terry (c), A Cole; Mikel; Kalou (Anelka ht), Ballack (Ferreira 89), Lampard, Malouda; Drogba (Belletti 72).
Goals Bosingwa 35, Anelka 75
Booked Malouda 55
Stoke (4-4-2): Sorensen; Griffin(c), Abdoulaye Faye, Cort, Higginbotham; Lawrence (Tonge 64), Olofinjana, Diao, Cresswell; Sidibe (Amdy Faye 80), Kitson (Fuller 52).
Booked Griffin 55, Cresswell 66

To be continued…

Click here for Part Two.

Chelsea TV will also be looking back at the 2008/09 campaign next week with players speaking exclusively about their own and their team's performance.

PETR CECH - Monday at 10.30pm
MICHAEL ESSIEN - Tuesday at 10.30pm
NICOLAS ANELKA - Wednesday at 10pm

Scott Minto and Jason Cundy will also take a look at the highs and lows from Chelsea's rollercoaster season

Part 1- Takes a look at the Scolari reign and Chelsea's explosive start to the season. Monday at 11pm
Part 2 - Considers the arrival of Hiddink right through to the FA Cup Final. Tuesday at 11pm

LIVE FROM STAMFORD BRIDGE
Jason Cundy hosts a summer special of Live from Stamford Bridge, taking your calls and discussing Chelsea's 08/09 season, plus your thoughts on next season when Carlo Ancelotti takes over the reins

That's on Thursday at 7pm.