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Injuries and the draining effects of momentous international matches - just two of the reasons why a squad with quality in depth is essential for a push for major honours.

In the last month there has been a rapid turnover of players used in the Chelsea defence with little detriment to the ability to keep the ball from entering our net, especially at home where the shut-out is reaching record-breaking proportions.

Alex's return from injury three-and-a-half weeks ago was timed well with the demands of the season beginning to bite into the squad.

It remains to be seen if the Brazilian will start on Saturday against Wolves but with Branislav Ivanovic one of the players used at right-back since Jose Bosingwa's injury, and Alex able to train at Cobham all the while colleagues have been playing for their nations overseas, the chance must be a good one.

He has played two 90 minute games this season so far, 4-0 against Bolton in the Carling Cup and a 2-2 draw away to Atlético Madrid, plus a late introduction against Manchester United a fortnight ago.

'I am feeling good and I am very happy with my fitness,' reports Alex, now totally over the groin surgery that kept him out of the start of the season.

'The last 20 minutes in Madrid I was very tired but I was so happy that I come back to play and I think in my opinion that I played good. We drew 2-2 but it was okay, a good result. [Sergio] Aguero was difficult and his second goal, the free-kick, was a very good goal.

'I don't know if I will play but I hope to help the team on Saturday, or the next games after that.'

When it comes to dealing with Wolves' 6ft 8in forward Stefan Maierhofer (pictured below), a summer signing from Austria, it is hard to imagine the presence of Alex weakening Chelsea's ability to cope.

It's a defence he believes is brimming with confidence after recent results, no matter which players are selected.

'We have a good group and Ivanovic has worked very well when he plays on the right side. All the defenders play very well and help the team. The defence I think now is the best in the world. They mark very well, position very well and we train every day well to put that on the pitch for the game.

'We won 1-0 against Manchester United last game and it was a difficult game but it was good. Now we have more confidence, five points in the lead at the top, and now we have to continue.'

The big screens inside the stadium and the TV screens in the concourses of the stands will be showing the early match between Liverpool and Man City. It is recommended anyone attending Chelsea's match arrives at the stadium at least 30 minutes prior to kick-off, at which time queuing is limited to only a few minutes.

The draw has been made for the Africa Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast and Ghana in the same group.

Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou's Ivory Coast will face Michael Essien's Ghana in Group B. John Mikel Obi's Nigeria find themselves in Group C which contains reigning champions Egypt and Mozambique, recent World Cup qualifier opponents of Nigeria.

The first games will be played in host nation Angola on Sunday 10 January.

Nigeria coach Shaibu Amodou was at the draw, where he was pleased with his side's opposition in the group stages, although he did add a word of caution admitting there were 'no small teams in football anymore'.

The full results from the draw, which took place in Angola, can be seen below:

Group A: Angola, Mali, Algeria, Malawi.

Group B: Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso.

Group C: Egypt, Nigeria, Benin, Mozambique.

Group D: Cameroon, Tunisia, Zambia, Gabon.

That's it - the end of internationals for 2009. It's heads down for an assault on four club competitions. Club historian Rick Glanvill and club statistician Paul Dutton are ready for the resumption.

TALKING POINTS
It is difficult to know what Wolves fans are more looking forward to: competing for points with the league leaders at fortress Stamford Bridge, or hearing 'Liquidator' ring out round a stadium.

Harry J Allstars' rocksteady instrumental has been an official 'Chelsea song' since 1970, when the matchday programme gave away copies as competition prizes. It actually reached no.9 in the UK chart 40 years ago this week, and it is unlikely there were earlier adopters than the Fulham Road supporters.

The song has provided a rousing entrance for generations of players at the Bridge, but was banished years ago from the Molineux p.a. system. Whereas in SW6 it is accompanied by rhythmic (well, mostly - could be better) handclaps and wholesome chants of 'Chelsea!', in the West Midlands the 'lyric' took on an altogether more gutter tone. 

Well, let's hope goodness prevails and the clean version drowns out the filth. It is, after all, a 'Winter World of Love' (to quote Engelbert Humperdinck's alternative 1969 chart-topper) in west London, with Chelsea well placed on all fronts as the often-decisive flurry of Christmas matches draws near.

Impressive performances at both ends of the field have underpinned the Blues' pacesetting.

The most fruitful phases of the game this season have been the opening and closing 15 minutes of the second half, when nine and seven respectively (16 in total) of the Blues' 29 goals have been scored.

At the same time, our opponents are least successful in the first 15 and last 30 minutes of matches. Only one league goal has been conceded in those periods: Paul Scharner's last-minute breakaway goal at Wigan.

Then again, the league leaders also have its tightest defence: under Carlo Ancelotti Chelsea have picked the ball out of the net just eight times. The next best in that respect are Manchester United and Aston Villa, who have both let in 12.

In fact, Chelsea had the best defensive record in four of the last five seasons, and as we know it is not always an indication of title-winners. In 2007 United took the title with more goals conceded. However, in seven of the last ten going back to 1999/2000, the stingiest team has scooped the top honour too.

Clean sheets are of course the foundation of success. No one has breached the defence at Stamford Bridge in the league since a certain Hull City midfielder on the opening day of the season.

Even so, there is room for improvement, which is a good sign. For instance, Chelsea have scored just two league goals in the opening half-hour of matches to date.

The worry now is a growing casualty list, particularly from the recent international training camps and matches. After the previous break the Blues travelled to Aston Villa minus injured Michael Ballack - who has yet to be on the losing side this season.

The team squandered good openings to lose 1-2 to a Villa side that simply took their chances at set-pieces. Wolves will undoubtedly see capitalising on any similar lacks of concentration as their route to a point or three. Although they haven't won a match since mid-September, they have hit the net in their last four matches. Three of those ended in draws against teams above them, and it will be a weakened Chelsea that they face this weekend.

Never the less, Chelsea's record of not dropping a single point to teams in the bottom five this season provides hope that the first 3pm Saturday kick-off at Stamford Bridge since 2 May will go according to the form book.

Manchester City have beaten Liverpool only once since their most recent win at Anfield, in 2003. The fixture has already been labelled a fourth-place play-off, however, and City would move four points clear of their northwest rivals, game in hand, with a win.

Injury-hit Arsenal's visit to suddenly confident Sunderland will be a test of their mettle ahead of Chelsea's visit next weekend. Manchester Utd host Everton, who have not won at Old Trafford since 1992.

Barclays Premier League fixtures
Saturday
Liverpool v Man City 12.45pm - Sky Sports
Birmingham v Fulham 3pm
Burnley v Aston Villa 3pm
Chelsea v Wolves 3pm
Hull v West Ham 3pm
Sunderland v Arsenal 3pm
Man Utd v Everton 5.30pm - ESPN
Sunday
Bolton v Blackburn 1.30pm - Sky Sports
Tottenham v Wigan 3pm
Stoke v Portsmouth 4pm - Sky Sports
Wednesday
Fulham v Blackburn 8pm
Hull v Everton 7.45pm

The race for the Premier League Golden Boot
Torres (Liverpool) 10
Drogba (Chelsea) 9
Bent (Sunderland) 8
Rooney (Man Utd) 7
Saha (Everton) 7
Van Persie (Arsenal) 7

International breaks are always a problem for a big club like Chelsea.

This past 10 days have seen Blues jetting off all around the world and sadly some have come back in worse shape than they left.The physio room has been busy this week and with Frank Lampard and plenty more on the injured list, this weekend's visit of Wolves might not be the simple task it looks on paper.

The Blues have come back slowly from the two previous international breaks this season.Defeat away to Villa and a late, late winner from Drogs at Stoke are a notch below the electric form displayed in going five points clear.

That said home advantage has been a huge bonus. Hull were the last opponents to score at the Bridge, and that was back in August. With Wolves having scored less than all bar three of the Premier League sides so far this year, that record may well stand beyond Saturday afternoon.

Rather than taking the very short odds on a Blues win, and shying away from the handicap markets that have served us well so far, the odds of Chelsea winning 1-0 make some appeal at 8.50 and Nicolas Anelka to follow up two fine performances for France by netting the first goal are also attractive at around 4.5.

188BET, the betting partner of Chelsea is the market leader in In-Play betting, offering markets on more than 3,000 games every month.The odds on this weekend's Premier League fixture are 1.18 Chelsea; 13.00 Wolves and 6.90 the draw.

Chelsea to win by three goals or more, with your stake back if they win by two are 1.97.

Click on 188BET to place your stake.

Join Jason Cundy and Kerry Dixon tonight as they dissect the week's big stories while also looking forward to the Wolves game.

And with the recent topic surrounding football being Thierry Henry's handball against Ireland, Chelsea TV wants to hear your stories of football injustices.

Call in and tell the boys your tales, whether it was in your own Sunday league, five-a-side game or watching from the stands, make them as entertaining as possible.

The best call and story will get a signed copy of Frank Lampard's new DVD Super, Super, Frank.

So call 0844 543 4969 from 7pm to get your views across, only on Chelsea TV.

Reserve team goalkeeper Rhys Taylor has joined Queens Park Rangers in a temporary move until January.

The 19-year-old, who has been capped by Wales Under 21s, has appeared twice for the Chelsea second string this season and earlier this month signed a new contract that will keep him at the club until 2012.

He was ever-present in the youth team's run to the FA Youth Cup Final in 2008 and an unused sub for three games for the first team during the Christmas and New Year period 2007/08.

QPR, managed by Jim Magilton, are currently fourth in the Championship. Taylor will be at Loftus Road until 4 January.

Petr Cech is feeling fresh and revitalised after resting during the international break over the past two weeks.

The Chelsea keeper didn't play in Czech Republic's game against United Arab Emirates, after his nation failed to qualify for the World Cup, instead opting to spend some quality time with his family.

The break has left him ready for a home clash with Wolves, where the Blues will be aiming for a ninth consecutive clean sheet at home.

In fact, Chelsea haven't conceded a goal in over 870 minutes of football at the Bridge, but Cech is still fully aware of a certain Irishman who netted the opener in our first game of the season.

'It was Stephen Hunt,' explains Cech, remembering the last person to score against him in west London.

'It was the first game of the season; you always remember when you concede a goal.

'Hopefully we can keep going with the clean sheets for as long as we can, and now we have started getting clean sheets away from home as well, which is good.

'If we can keep doing this then of course it will be easier to get three points every time, so we hope to do it again.'

Speaking exclusively to Chelsea TV, Cech described why two weeks away from football has helped him refocus for a testing few months in the game.

'It has been different [not to be playing] and I have really enjoyed the time with my family.

'It was good because after so many games it is good to be ready for the next stage of the season, we have so many games in the League and there's the Champions League as well, so it was a very good two-week break for me.'

It's back to business now though as the Blues prepare to face Wolves this weekend, in front of a home crowd who can feel Stamford Bridge becoming a fortress once more.

'We have got a positive set of results and are playing well at home again.

'When you play at home you always want to take the advantage of playing at home, you want to win and you have the whole stadium behind you.

'We are very solid and we have had a little bit of luck as well and that's why we can hopefully keep it going for a long time.

'It is also good to have the clean sheets because then you only have to score one goal to win the game,' added Cech.

Stamford Bridge will once again be showing live Barclays Premier League action prior to kick-off this weekend. 

The big screens inside the stadium and the TV screens in the concourses of the stands will be showing the early match between Liverpool and Man City.

It is recommended anyone attending Chelsea's match arrives at the stadium at least 30 minutes prior to kick-off, at which time queuing is limited to only a few minutes.

Whenever there is an earlier televised fixture elsewhere, it will be broadcast on the big screen and in the concourses.

Kick-off for Chelsea v Wolves is 3pm.

Chelseafc.com is offering fans the facility to watch today's pre-match press conference live on your PC.

Carlo Ancelotti will have all the latest news ahead of our Barclays Premier League clash with Wolves on Saturday.

Chelseafc.com is the place to watch uninterrupted coverage of the press conference, and we are currently the only football club website to present this feature free to fans.

Today's Chelsea press conference begins at approximately 1.30pm and if you click here it will be streamed directly to your computer.

Anyone heading to Stamford Bridge for our Barclays Premier League clash with Wolves tomorrow may appreciate the following information.

If you're using London Underground services to get to the stadium then be aware the Hammersmith and City Line will be closed between Edgware Road and Barking.

There will be no service between Kings Cross and Tower Hill on the Circle Line, Marble Arch and West Ruislip and Marble Arch and Ealing Broadway on the Central Line.

Between Harrow-on-the-Hill and Aldgate will be shut on the Metropolitan Line while the Jubilee Line is suspended between Stanmore and Waterloo and also between North Greenwich and Stratford.

The entire Waterloo and City Line will be closed this weekend although there are replacement buses running for all the above services.

Rail users should be aware there will be no First Capital Connect services across Central London, although trains will still run to/from London Bridge (from the south) and St Pancras International (from the north).

Buses will replace South West Trains between Barnes and Kew Bridge, and services to Weybridge will be diverted to operate via Richmond due to planned engineering work.

Anyone using National Rail services are advised to check arrival and departure times by clicking here.

Fans driving to the stadium will be pleased to hear there are no major roadworks planned within the vicinity of the stadium, although you should check your route before departure through either the AA or RAC websites.

For more information on London Underground services or roadworks in around the capital visit Transport for London.

Dennis Wise is a Chelsea legend, one who will be attending the annual Chelsea Pitch Owners' Lunch next Friday, so the official Chelsea website thought it a perfect time to catch up with our former captain.

But there was another reason we wanted to speak to the club's second most successful skipper of all time. Read on to find out why…



In 1994 an ambitious 14-year-old arrived at the Chelsea training ground entrance, raring for an opportunity to prove his talent among the many outstanding stars already plying their trade here.

After a few years playing in the Academy, the youngster left school and was made a full-time apprentice. That's when he was handed a brush and assigned the boots of some of the club's most influential players.

One of those players was a man born in west London. Chelsea through-and-through, he was a combative yet skilful midfielder who cemented his place in the club's hall of fame.

In 11 years with the Blues, he was a man who won Player of the Year twice; a man who scored the most Chelsea goals in his second season at the club; a man who became our most successful captain and our fourth all-time highest appearance maker, a man they call Dennis Wise.

Wise continued to be Chelsea's highest achieving captain until last May, FA Cup Final day, when his record was surpassed and the honour fell to another through-and-through Blue.

It fell to the same youngster who had been handed Wise's boots all those years before, who had arrived as a fresh faced 14-year-old three years after Wise had been Chelsea's highest scorer of the season. It fell to John Terry.

Terry has beaten Wise's haul of six trophies with two FA Cups, two Premier League titles and two League Cups, all before winning his second Community Shield as captain in August.

Now JT's sights are on another landmark in his Chelsea career, captaining the Blues for the second highest number of games. He reaches 299 if he plays this weekend, beating Wise's 298 match total.

The record is still held by Ron 'Chopper' Harris, who captained the Blues on 324 occasions, but despite the possibility of being knocked from second place, Wise couldn't be happier.

'It's fantastic,' said the once competitive midfielder. 'People are always at some stage going to break your records and achieve something and if there's one person I'd like to see do it, it would be John.

'He has come all the way through and done fantastically well, I'm chuffed to bits for him. He is a true Blue and a boy who always wanted to achieve a lot as a young kid.

'All those times he spent out there on his own, training and doing what he could to make himself better, have paid off, so well done to him.'

Anyone who works closely with Terry always has the same response when you ask about his captaining qualities, he's a born leader.

But add to that natural talent the experience of working under the greats Chelsea had to offer, no more so than Wise himself, then it is no wonder our number 26 went on to not only captain Chelsea, but his nation as well.

'There was a lot of influence for him. There was Robbie, there was Franco, Luca, Marcel, Ruud, he worked with some real top players,' explains Wise, speaking of Di Matteo, Zola, Vialli, Desailly and Gullit.

'Those players are a lot better than me but I was different in the way I went about things.

'He has probably learned and taken bits from all of us, thinking that's right, that's not right, he has taken the best bits but obviously when you are a leader you have your own personality.

'I had my own personality, John will have his and the next captain that comes along will have his as well.'

It's that personality which has combined with the experience he's gained to produce the most successful Chelsea captain of all time.

Even as an apprentice, cleaning the boots of Wise and Desailly, it was clear there was something different about our defensive stalwart, but despite seeing the talent that lay in the young Terry's legs, Wise could never be sure he would turn out to be captain.

'He was a leader, but you never know these things. He was only a young boy and there was a long, long way for him to go.

'You can never turn around and say they'll become captain because you could get injured or there are all sorts of things that can happen to you.

'The good thing is that he has come through and done exceptionally well. If there is one person you are pleased to be captain and take over your whole appearances and achievements then it's John, because he's a home grown success who has always wanted to do it.

'And he was certainly one of the best boot cleaners I ever had, it was between him and Jody [Morris], I had Jody as well. They were both very good to be honest.

'Two great lads, both of them had a lot of character about them and you could see they had a lot of guts as well. They always had the chance of really succeeding, you could tell from the moment you met them.'

There was a time when the Chelsea training ground would erupt with laughter following the latest instalment of a Dennis Wise prank. Today the same situation often occurs, the only difference being the culprit of the practical joke.

Once training is over, and the serious business done, Terry is known for his jovial outbursts, which often arrive in an array of wind-ups.

So was this a captain to captain inheritance, a secret skill that is handed down along with the armband? Although Wise had left for pastures new by the time Terry took up the captain's role, did they ever plot the latest escapade together?

'I don't this so,' says Wise after pondering the question.

'He was a young man who liked to enjoy himself, he liked a giggle, but we all like a giggle going into work. We don't want to sit there and not be very inventive in having a joke; it's always good banter so long as it is taken in the right manner.

'It's good that he has that character though because it just breaks the ice.

'In Italy and places like that it is a very serious place to play. I remember Franco, Robbie and Luca saying, when they first came here and we got them at it a few times, that it helped them relax.

'It is important, more than anything, to make them realise it is a good environment and we want to enjoy ourselves but more than anything is that there's a seriousness to it. That seriousness has to be done, that's that, but it's good to have a bit of banter afterwards.'

Speaking of banter, comedian Bobby Davro will be joining impressionist Jon Culshaw at this year's annual Chelsea Pitch Owners lunch. An event Wise will also be attending next Friday.

It's the first time the former Blue has been able to come to the annual event, which is now in its 14th year, and he's looking forward to a return to Stamford Bridge and the Chelsea fans.

'It's going to be brilliant to see a few of the lads,' exclaims Wise.

'Jimmy [Floyd Hasselbaink] and Tore [Andre Flo] are going. It'll be nice; it's always nice to do these things.

'At one stage I was director of CPO a long time ago when Ken Bates put it all in motion. I am looking forward to it, I have never been before, I have been asked a lot of times but have never been able to go.

'It raises money for a worthy cause and does it well, which is really good. The fans treat me well too, they're always really nice, so I'm really looking forward to it.'

The money raised from the event will go towards the Past Players' Trust, but one man who won't be able to make it, who Wise still manages to see personally, is former midfielder Gustavo Poyet.

The Uruguayan followed Wise into management, becoming his assistant at Swindon Town before the duo moved onto Leeds.

After that Poyet moved to Tottenham Hotspur and a fairly unsuccessful posting under Juande Ramos, although he did help guide the side to a Carling Cup win over the Blues in 2008.

In October of that year he parted company with Spurs and began a search for a new position. Twelve months later he landed the role of manager at Brighton and Hove Albion on a one-and-a-half year contract.

'It's really great for Gus; he's wanted to get a managing job for a long time. It's something he's always wanted to do.

'Hopefully he has learned some good parts off me, because obviously when he first came into it he watched and wanted to get his feet in there slowly and then get into it.

'I hope he does well. I don't know how he'll do, it depends on the personnel you have as well and the players you have, but it's something he has a real desire to want to do well in.

'I wish him all the best. He has already had a good result, they beat Southampton 3-1 on the weekend, so hopefully it continues and he does well.'

By Christian Collison

You can come and see Dennis Wise and many other ex-Chelsea stars at this year's Chelsea Pitch Owners' Annual Lunch next Friday (27 November), for which there are still a few tickets remaining.

For more information or to book your place call 020 7957 8267, email cpoinfo@chelseafc.com or click here.

Straight off the back of a defeat to Arsenal, Chelsea Ladies smashed the opposition in an eight-goal thriller at the weekend.

And it wasn't a small side we vanquished away from home. It was Everton, last year's second place finishers in the League.

Okay, they may have been missing Rachel Brown, England's first choice keeper, from the line-up but the dangerous Fara Williams was fully fit and we beat them.

It was a confident display from the Blues, one which saw us take a two-goal lead inside the first half, just like the previous game against title-holders Arsenal.

The main difference between the two fixtures was that this time we doubled the deficit before the break, as Eartha Pond (pictured) and Shelby Hills added to earlier strikers from Lianne Sanderson and Dunia Susi.

It's a very positive response to a phenomenally disappointing, last-minute loss against the Gunners a week before.

And it means we're now top of the League.

Arsenal may have moved up the table, sitting in third place only a point behind us thanks to a 5-1 thumping handed to Sunderland at home, but right now Chelsea are top with an impressive 19 points from eight games.

Everton on the other hand are eighth in the 12-team league.

It's a good start for the Ladies' new manager Matt Beard, who joins the Blues from Millwall after leading them to top flight football last season.

He was also assistant manager at Charlton during the glory days before the side were disbanded due to funding issues, where he worked closely alongside Ladies captain Casey Stoney.

His next game will be a home clash with Bristol Academy tonight, a side we have already beaten 4-0 on their home turf.

It's the only fixture taking place tonight before the League returns to action on Sunday and the Blues host Doncaster Rovers.

It's the second time we have faced Doncaster this season, the first meeting, which was away from home, ended 2-2, so the Ladies will be hoping to build on that performance if they are to stay top.

For more information on the Chelsea Ladies click here.

There are now only a few spaces left at the fundraising event Didier Drogba will be hosting on Saturday in London.

The dinner is in aid of the Didier Drogba Foundation, founded earlier this year, and will raise money towards building a hospital in his home city of Abidjan, Ivory Coast. It is at the Dorchester Hotel on Saturday after our home game against Wolves.

The Foundation's initial aim is to raise in the region of £2.5 million to build the hospital, and Didier is hoping to have it open, fully equipped and staffed by the end of 2010.

The Chelsea forward says: 'I have seen much suffering throughout Africa, especially with my work with the UN, but when I visited a hospital in Abidjan earlier this year, I was shocked by the terrible conditions I saw.

'We hear about all the incurable diseases, but these kids are just as likely to die from diabetes because there is no insulin available. It was then I decided the Foundation's first project should be to build and fund a hospital giving people basic healthcare and a chance just to stay alive.'

The evening will commence with a champagne reception followed by dinner and entertainment. There will then be the opportunity to bid for a number of unique auction items, all proceeds from the night going directly to the charity.

If you wish to attend alongside some of the biggest names in sport and entertainment, you can purchase a table or individual tickets, starting at £250, by calling 020 7935 3666 or e-mailing info@thesportsprcompany.com

It was five in and one out among the Chelsea stars who played in Wednesday night's World Cup play-offs.

France with Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda on board won through to South Africa in controversial circumstances, 2-1 on aggregate but it was more straight-forward for Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira and Deco with a 2-0 aggregate win for Portugal.

Russia were the night's shock, going out on away goals to Slovenia with Yury Zhirkov dismissed in the dying moments.

Anelka once again took a prominent role as France defended the 1-0 first leg advantage he had given them over Republic of Ireland. Malouda was a traditional late sub by Raymond Domenech, this time three minutes before the end of normal time and three minutes before he received an undeserved booking. The appearance was his 50^th for his country.

Ireland had scored through Robbie Keane on 32 minutes to level the tie which went into extra time.

Anelka came close to breaking the deadlock in the added 30 minutes with a shot from outside the area and had a strong shout for penalty turned down when clipped by Shay Given as he passed the Ireland keeper.

France levelled on the night and thus won the tie despite a clear handball by Thierry Henry before he turned the ball across for William Gallas to head in from close range.

It was pretty much plain sailing for Portugal who repeated their 1-0 win of Saturday's home leg. The goal that beat Bosnia-Herzegovina came 11 minutes after half-time from Raul Meireles and the Portuguese spurned several other good chances.

Carvalho and Ferreira played throughout, the right-back making an importance clearance late on. Deco, who came off in the first leg with a groin niggle, started on the bench but was introduced in place of Atlético Madrid's Simao. Hilario was on the bench for the first time in an international.

There was a sour moment when a lineman was hurt by a missile thrown by the crowd after Bosnia's Sejad Salihovic was sent off 66 minutes in.

Russia can have few complaints about the summer they will spend at home. Guus Hiddink's side failed to perform to anything like the standard of their group stage campaign. They lost the 2-1 advantage they took to Slovenia when the home side scored through Zlatko Dedica a minute before the break.

Zhirkov's night to forget began badly with an eighth minute booking for a late tackle.

Near the end Russia failed to make the most of a free-kick won skilfully by the Chelsea man and soon after he became involved with an unused substitute who was attempting to waste time while warming up. Having pushed the player to the ground, the left-back was shown a second yellow card.

Russia at that point went down to nine men, substitute Alexander Kerzhakov having been sent off in the 66th minute after colliding with the Slovenia keeper.

The result, in a stadium holding under 14,000 people, was the first time since the play-offs were introduced in 1998 that a side winning the first leg have not gone through.

In the fourth play off, former Blue Andriy Shevchenko suffered disappointment when Ukraine lost 1-0 at home to Greece after a goalless first leg.

In Wednesday night's international friendlies, Salomon Kalou returned to the Ivory Coast side after missing the weekend's game for disciplinary reasons and played 83 minutes of a 2-2 draw against Germany in Munich.

Michael Ballack, unable to play due to injury, placed Robert Enke's number one shirt on the bench among the substitutes as a mark of respect for the goalkeeper who died last week.

In front of 8,000 spectators at Craven Cottage, Branislav Ivanovic played the full game as Serbia ended a 27-match unbeaten run for South Korea with a 1-0 win.

Michael Essien was not part of Ghana's 0-0 draw with Angola in a friendly. The Ghana Football Association announced earlier in the day that the Chelsea midfielder and two other players were unexpectedly absent.

Miroslav Stoch played a second match in 24 hours following a sub appearance for the full Slovakia side on Tuesday. This time he played the whole of an important Under 21 Euro qualifier against Croatia. The result was a 2-1 home defeat that leaves Slovakia trailing the Croats in their group.

For Serbia Under 21s, Nemanja Matic started a 3-1 away friendly win in Denmark. 

In his column this week, season ticket holder Giles Smith sinks his teeth into the subject of stadium naming, and chocolate bars.

There has been a fair bit of talk recently about stadium naming rights. Newcastle United got the ball rolling, announcing their temporary decision to make St James' Park the sportsdirect.com @ St James' Park Stadium - thus coercing one of Britain's more storied footballing venues into an uneasy commercial alliance with an out-of-town cut-price trainer warehouse.

Which was, of course, quite funny, if you didn't have anything better to be laughing at. But let's be fair here. If I'm correct about this, what Mike Ashley, the Newcastle owner, was doing by re-christening the ground with the website address of his sports goods company - just until the end of the season and with no immediate financial advantage to the club - was advertising, not so much sports direct itself, as the availability of the naming rights.

In other words, the plan is to lure in another company who might actually pay for those naming rights, having been given a big, prior demonstration of how it might look.

In other words, calling St James's Park the sportsdirect.com @ St James's Park Stadium is the equivalent of changing the name of the ground to the Your Name Here Stadium - that slogan you sometimes see on empty advertising hoardings or on the back of car park tickets or some other commercially unexploited area.

Still, that doesn't mean it isn't quite funny. And also completely unsayable. 'The sportsdirect.com @ St James's Park Stadium.' Try saying that with a mouthful of Rowntree's Randoms.

Which doesn't really matter, of course, because no one is ever going to say it. No one. Ever. Apart possibly from the receptionist on the club's switchboard. And I hope the extra work is going to be reflected in her pay packet.

But one had barely finished sniggering about all this, and clapping oneself on the thigh at Newcastle's simply incredible ability to shoot itself in the foot, over and over again, when Chelsea's chief executive, Mr Ron Gourlay, happened to mention that Chelsea, too, wouldn't be averse to at least discussing the question of stadium naming rights - and that, moreover, a deal in this area could quite plausibly be worth in the vicinity of £100 million to the club.

Now, I suspect it goes without saying that any supporter of long-standing, with even the slightest feeling for tradition, would have become slightly concerned at this suggestion. Chelsea play at Stamford Bridge, after all. They always have done. The shape of the stadium has changed, dog tracks have come and gone, stands have risen and fallen, Ken Bates has been in and out, Robert Fleck ditto, hotels have arrived and an entire shopping and eating emporium has attached itself to the back wall of The Shed - and yet the ground has remained Stamford Bridge.

Through it all - Stamford Bridge.

So the idea that - let's just say for argument's sake - Curry's or PC World or even World of Leather might suddenly turn up in a big car and alter the address for a five-year period, with an option to extend… well, I expect many of us would feel a bit of a cold shiver for what might be lost in this transaction.

At the same time, £100 million! Even these days, when couples in Wales seem to be pulling down £35 million off the Euro Millions Lottery on an almost nightly basis, that's quite a lot of money. And just for getting a switchboard receptionist to parrot some sponsor's name every time the phone rings. You can see why it might be tempting, from the point of view of those charged with balancing the books going forwards.

But, of course, it would all depend on the nature of the name-change. York City fans, of course, had to put up with the name of their ground changing from the quite poetic Bootham Crescent to the, er, less poetic KitKat Crescent.

That can't have been easy, but at least there was a rich and resonant history there - and not just because KitKat is made in York. KitKat is, when you think about it, a perfectly appropriate thing to call a football stadium because it's the football-goer's chocolate snack of choice.

Indeed, I would be happy to argue on behalf of the merits of the Kit-Kat as convenient half-time fuel over any other commercially available chocolate bar. And not just over Bounty: over realistic bars with serious credentials, such as Mars and Twix, none of which, in my opinion, can match the KitKat for mid-match satisfaction and convenience.

So, if there is to be a name-change, or even a subtle name-shift, at Stamford Bridge, we, too, have to hope that the alliance is an appropriate one. What we really need is for one of the major blue-chip telecommunications companies to change its name to Carefree and then come steaming in with an offer that can't be refused. Stamford Bridge - The Carefree Stadium. Would anyone have a particular problem with that? At £100 million a pop?

Ditto anything involving the word 'celery'. Celery @ Stamford Bridge. I don't think there would be too many objections from the purists, if, by that means, we secured a couple of world-class strikers and some defensive cover that we might not otherwise have bought.

But in the absence of that, I suppose we'll just have to sit and wait for news. A little nervously.

Anyway, this weekend, in the place we can still, without fear of contradiction, refer to as Stamford Bridge, we take on Wolves. And Stamford Bridge, you would have to say, is a place where we seem to have given up a) losing b) drawing and c) conceding goals.

I don't suppose by any chance there's an appropriate company out there called Fortress, is there? Or would that be tempting fate?

Midweek training at Cobham has been closer to a full session than during many an international break.

A limited programme of international fixtures yesterday and today has resulted in a staggered return this week for players who have been away.

With England playing just one match, in the Middle East at the weekend, John Terry has been back at Cobham. He was in light training on Tuesday in the wake of the minor ankle problem that kept him out of action against Brazil. Today (Wednesday) he trained normally.

Also taking full part in the session, mostly one of small-sided exercises, were Ashley and Joe Cole neither of whom made the England trip. Frank Lampard is under treatment at Cobham having suffered a thigh injury during England preparations.

A buoyant presence on the Cobham pitches this week has been John Obi Mikel now the cloud of World Cup elimination has lifted from over him. He will no doubt be ready to have a word with Salomon Kalou when the Ivorian reports back tomorrow - his friend and team-mate having told Mikel when side-by-side for a recent Chelsea TV interview that he should not worry, he is young enough to play in future World Cups.

Sam Hutchinson, on his way back from an injury suffered in the reserves at the beginning of October, and Gael Kakuta, fresh from France Under 19s participation in a four-nation tournament were able to increase the numbers, and Alex and Juliano Belletti gave training a strong Brazilian presence. The reserves are next in action on Monday, at home to Birmingham.

Daniel Sturridge reported back following his start for England Under 21s last night but it was a day of recovery for the striker.

For goalkeeping coach Christophe Lollichon, it has been a week with a difference, as for once he trains Petr Cech and Ross Turnbull while wondering how it is going for Hilario, away answering the international call.

Tomorrow, training is in the afternoon, allowing time for those playing tonight to fly in, many hopefully with South Africa-bound smiles on their faces.

For Carlo Ancelotti, today marks the last day of training with such a reduced group of players until March.

Matchday hospitality packages are available for Saturday's home game against Wolves from £150 + VAT per person. For more information please call 0871 984 1955 or click here

For Chelsea's France, Portugal and Russia internationals, today (Wednesday) is the day their World Cup fates will be decided.

So far only Petr Cech of the club's regular internationals knows he won't be playing in South Africa in the summer. There are likely to be milestone appearances for some of his club colleagues tonight but that is likely to be far from the players' minds.

Our Portuguese contingent take just a single goal advantage to Bosnia. Ricardo Carvalho is set to play his 50th international as a Chelsea player alongside Paulo Ferreira and Deco, while Henrique Hilario is likely to remain a squad back-up, as he was on Saturday when a Bruno Alves goal decided the home leg. 

Following the weekend's game, Deco admitted: 'In the end we had some luck, but even this advantage is not decisive. The important thing was not conceding. It was a difficult game, but overall we were better and controlled almost the whole game.

'In Zenica, if we score a goal there, everything will be easier, but we must be very intelligent and we must hold on to the ball.' 

The midfielder came off in the final five minutes of the first leg with an injury, although he should be available for this game: 'I felt a pain in the abductor and I put ice on it. That was all it was,' he said. Bosnia-Herzegovina are missing three of their team, including their captain, following first-leg bookings.

France have the same lead for their re-match against Republic of Ireland but have the added insurance of it being an away goal. Nicolas Anelka, who scored it, said:

'It's good to score away from home, It's a play-off so it's very important. It's satisfying because we wanted to show that we could get a good result but we shouldn't get carried away, anything can happen.'

France have only lost one competitive game in the 11 years of the Stade de France. Ireland have never won in France.

Florent Malouda was a stoppage-time sub on Saturday and if he plays a part in the match in Paris, it will be his 50th career cap.

Russia's 2-1 win against Slovenia gives them plenty to do in the away leg, although former Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink isn't too worried.

'I was disappointed with the result,' said Dutchman on Fifa's website. 'We were leading 2-0 and had plenty of chances to increase our advantage. But we did not lose the first match, we won it, and there's no room for panic.

'I know that a very tough battle is waiting for us in Slovenia but we gave proof that we can upset any opposing team regardless of how many goals they allowed in their qualifying group or how dangerous in general they are.'

Hiddink selected Yury Zhirkov in the first game. 

Away from the play-offs, Branislav Ivanovic, who has already qualified for South Africa with Serbia, is in the squad for a friendly.against South Korea in a match a Craven Cottage with a 2.30pm kick-off.

Michael Essien won his 50th cap for Ghana on Sunday. Now he could be involved in an away meeting with Angola, who will be hosting the African Cup of Nations in January.

Salomon Kalou may miss Ivory Coast's friendly in Germany, following an altercation with team mate Abdoulaye Meite in training ahead of his nation's weekend game against Guinea.

Both players have apologised and were disciplined by being left of that game. They could be absent from Wednesday's fixture as well. Definitely missing is injured Germany captain Michael Ballack. 

To mark the start of Global Entrepreneurship Week, the cream of the capital's young business talent battled it out in front of a 'dragon's den' of corporate leaders to become Tsu Chu entrepreneurial champions.

The young talent, representing five businesses, including a street dance company, a community based ICT consultancy and a language school went head to head at City Hall in the Tsu'Chu Biz® Cup Final.

Using the Olympics and football as the inspiration for their ideas, the event is the culmination of courses for 500 young people aged 14-19 years from within the five Olympic host boroughs and has been funded by the Five Host Boroughs Unit and is supported by Chelsea Football Club.

The winning business teams and their young owners presented their plans to a panel of distinguished judges including:Rosa D'Alessandro, head of CSR AEG Europe; Antony Ross, executive director, Bridges Ventures; India Gary, global programme head, RBS; Jordan Kensington, CEO Invincible Media Group and Henriette Kolb, director, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women.

Tsu'Chu Biz® is the brainchild of former England international Tony Woodcock, and his partner Susan Kaye of The Challenge of Excellence and was recently awarded London 2012's INSPIRE MARK for exceptional educational projects.

Tsu'Chu was the first known form of football introduced in ancient China and means to kick a leather ball. With the support of Chelsea, Tsu'Chu Biz® courses have been successfully running across the UK for 14-19 year olds, with an emphasis on young people from disadvantaged areas, and use the magic and passion of the game of football as the learning medium. The first international courses also took place this year in the UAE.

Tony Woodcock said: 'We are delighted to be showcasing what young people can achieve when they are motivated, passionate, informed about life-relevant subjects and able to use their talents in a creative way…. good for them, good for the local economy and good for the community. It's a sign that innovative education can move in a positive direction.'

Focussed on Entrepreneurship, Business Finance, Teamship, Leadership, Stress Management and Personal Development the five (Olympic) host borough courses took place at London universities where all the young participants were awarded 20 UCAS tariff points and 10 university credits, encouraging them on to further and higher education.

Mayor Boris Johnson said: 'London is bursting with bright young minds and this contest provides the perfect opportunity for them to unleash their talents. In the run up to the 2012 Games I hope more budding entrepreneurs are inspired to start their own businesses.'

Eventual winners were Bon Eleve who won the prize for their language business proposal to provide after school tuition to primary school children in French and German.

Daniel Sturridge, Michael Mancienne and Ryan Bertrand all played in England Under 21s' draw away to Lithuania in a European Championship qualifier.

Sturridge's addition was the one change to the side that had beaten Portugal at Wembley at the weekend. Mancienne continued at right-back and although Bertrand initially made way at left-back for Kieran Gibbs to drop deeper, he came on after 21 minutes when the Arsenal youngster was forced off with an injury. Jack Cork remained on the bench.

Sturridge had a shot saved a minute later, having had two chances in the opening 10 minutes - a first-time effort blocked six yards out and then a left-foot effort that failed to hit the target. The Chelsea striker was subbed on 79 minutes.

The final score in Vilnius was 0-0 in what was a match of wasted opportunities by England Under 21s who are two points behind Greece in their qualification group. The sides meet in March.

Mancienne has now become Chelsea's record Under-21 international appearance maker. He has 22 caps at this level, moving ahead of Carlton Cole's 19 caps while with Chelsea.

Jeffrey Bruma finally conceded a goal as an Under 21 international as in the fifth game of the group stage, Netherlands allowed Spain to score. The Dutch still won 2-1 at home against a nation that had won its previous 14 group stage qualifiers. It made it five straight wins for the Dutch in this qualification stage. The 18-year-old Chelsea central defender played the whole match.  

Fabio Borini played his second Under 21 game for Italy, a 4-0 away win to Luxembourg. The 18-year-old played the full 90 minutes, his first start, but didn't find the net.

Conor Clifford also played his second game at this level having been moved up from Under 19 duty at the weekend. He entered Republic of Ireland's 4-1 defeat in Armenia at half-time when his side was a goal down. Ireland remain without a win in six games in their group.

In senior international football, Miroslav Stoch was a 69th minute sub in Slovakia's 2-1 defeat against Chile. The winger might also feature in an Under 21 qualifier tomorrow against Croatia. In the same group on Sunday, Nemanja Matic played 90 minutes of Serbia's 3-2 home win over Norwary Under 21s, keeping them within a point of Slovakia at the top.

Jacopo Sala played the first-half in midfield for Italy Under 19s in 4-0 win away to San Marino in a European Championship qualifier on Sunday. The Italians now play Ireland on Wednesday. Goalkeeper Jan Sebek was not involved in Czech Republic's Under 19 qualifier this week.  

In the third and final match of an Under 19 tournament in France, Gael Kakuta played the first 64 minutes of a 2-2 draw with Switzerland, the French having beaten Poland and drawn with Greece earlier in the week.

In last week's column, Pat Nevin wrote about his and others' experiences on the recent Champions League away trip. This week the discussion continues.

One thing you can say for sure is that Chelsea supporters are an honest bunch. Last week I mused about how travelling fans of the Blues, as well as other British clubs aren't always treated as well as we would hope.

I did also underline that all travelling fans aren't exactly blameless, the precise phrase being 'Okay yes, I know they do not always behave impeccably and when they do not I have precious little sympathy', but I received a huge number of stories both good and bad about following the team on foreign soil.

It is strange to say that outside of blogs, there are precious few chances to get these stories across to the wider public, who I maintain are fed a fairly one dimensional and unfair view of the devoted fan flying all over the continent following his or her beloved club.

To give a balanced view many wrote in to say the people of Madrid treated them very well, though I also was by impressed by the locals in general unless they happened to be wearing any sort of uniform - from security, to police, to airline staff at the airport.

Others also contacted me to say there were more than a few undesirables floating about sporting Chelsea colours and that some who claimed they were badly treated were in fact far from angels themselves in the first place. I am not so naïve as to fail to understand this, but it remains that some law-abiding, well-behaved fans did get a far rougher time than they deserved. Maybe Michel Platini, our man of the people representative in the higher echelons of Uefa, could have a look undercover at what is happening.

He was a wonderful player who I was disposed to like and support the moment he rose to such high office. Maybe he went down slightly in my estimations when talking about his view of the organisation after the Champions League final between us and Manchester United in Moscow. He claimed vociferously that everything went smoothly at the event and that there were no delays in getting everyone back home once the final had been decided.

He said that he himself got to the airport and boarded his plane with no delay at all, after he had schmoozed with the other officials for an hour or three.

Maybe he didn't notice the dozens of buses of fans that were made to wait hour after hour into the wee small hours at the airport periphery, until dignitaries such as himself were ushered through without having to mix with the great unwashed…such as me and those thousands of other Chelsea fans.

I understand that it is hard to stay grounded (as we were in Moscow), if you are ferried about in limos and wafted on to private jets, but I just thought Michel would have been a little bit more understanding of reality. If I ever bump into him I promise to try to give him a flavour of what can happen outside the prawn sandwich bubble.

Anyway I digress, as usual, the point is that loads of you got in touch with me not just to answer the quiz question but to get serious points across and my apologies if I didn't get round to personally answering every one of them, even though I do read every single last one. I wonder if I am turning into a distant figure lurching towards the prawn sandwiches instead of spending the necessary hours hammering away at the keyboard answering every question with a considered essay?

Anyway there were many good answers to the question, why were Chelsea fans so poorly treated in Madrid, some of which were actually even printable without fear of legal action on either the club or me. A selection are below and can I underline they are meant to be in jest, so my apologies in advance to any offended Spaniards and a certain lack of political correctness…please feel free to have a go back at Glasgow and Scotland if it makes you feel better.

So the winner chosen was Ashley Ellen and the prize will be on its way within days. This week to stand a chance of winning a DVD of the 2009 FA Cup Final win, could you tell me how many times the club's official badge has changed in the over 100 year history of the club? Answers as ever to pat.nevin@chelseafc.com the winner to be picked at random by my glamorous assistant who has this week been indoctrinated in the live joys of the The Flaming Lips, a bit of a quantum leap from her previous Girls Aloud gig I am sure you will agree…Oh dear now I have probably offended Ashley Cole as well.

Here are some of your answers sent in to the question - Why were the Chelsea fans treated so badly in Madrid?

Is the answer that on parts of the continent there seem to be only two levels of policing: non-existent and riot?

Wouldn't you be upset if Ronaldo had moved in near you?

The police were MAD and wanted RID of us!

Chelsea fans were treated so badly in Madrid, because Anelka played for Real Madrid before.

Some fans were talking about Zola and one idiot said Franco was useless; after that it all went off!

Because they still haven't forgiven us for 'El Dorado'.

Because some of the middle class Johnny Come Lately CFC fans dared to criticize the local paella for not having the right chorizo sausage in it and then went on to complain about the Rioja being 'slightly above room temperature'. Local restaurant owners were offended and this gave the outraged Spanish Plod carte blanche to crack a few Chelsea skulls.

The whole of Spain blame English people for the arrival of Ronaldo in their land. The country has since lost its entire supply of high-end sports cars, most of the girls ages 17-24 have a new job/ambition (being/to be Ronaldo's girlfriend), and the country has also run out of hair gel/cream, moisturiser, and hair removal wax/cream. England's (thus Chelsea's) fault.

To be sung to Carefree (roughly): By The Madrid Police.

Penned in, we never see the sea,
So we take it out on the CFC,
Or any British fans, whoever they may be
Cause we're "Franco"philes, and we never see the sea.

Nasty, that's how we can be,
And we'll keep you here, until you miss your tea,
And pen you in Jus' so you all can see,
What it's like for us, as we've never seen the sea.

Yesterday (Monday) the official Chelsea website had the first part of an interview with James Richardson, the UK's leading broadcaster and writer on Italian football, who visited Cobham to interview Carlo Ancelotti for Four-Four-Two magazine.

The Chelsea manager's career in Serie A was discussed in part one. Today his and other moves between Italy and England are considered.

Is it viewed with surprise in Italy that managers who have had major careers such as Carlo Ancelotti and Fabio Capello are moving to England?
'They never had to go abroad before particularly, and now you get a lot of Italian managers going to the weirdest places to seek experience because they don't get a look in at home. But equally if you look at Serie A, there are few foreign managers there after a period in the 90s when they were getting in managers like Fatih Terim and Hector Cuper and it never really worked out.

'They went back to Italian managers but in the 80s and 90s, the great period of Italian dominance, Italian managers didn't need to go abroad. It was the centre of football and that is where you wanted to make it. Capello went to Real Madrid but that was an exception, and that was Real Madrid. Also it was Capello so it would have been sheer bloody-mindedness, but now the Italians are well aware that they are not the fulcrum of the football world. Now it is the Premier League that is very much centre stage, and a club like Chelsea, you can't go any higher really.'

Do the Italians find that change hard to deal with?
'Like many nations they have a superiority complex and an inferiority complex raging alongside each other so although they spent much of that incredible decade, when they were always in the final of every competition, calling their league il campionato più bello del mondo - the most beautiful league in the world - they always had huge regard for England as being the home of the game. They saw it as the homeland of the real values and spirit of the sport - loyalty, fair play, respect - all these sort of things that we don't necessarily see ourselves when we look around the Premier League.'

'But from the Italians' perspective, when compared with Serie A, it is much more about those sportsman-like values here, so they have always had a huge regard for the English game because we invented it.

'Deep down the structure of their football is not as well-developed as it is over here and since the Premier League started and the money began picking up in terms of the merchandising and the stadiums, the Italians have seen the way the turnover has gone through the roof and they realised that basically they weren't going to be able to compete over there.

'Gradually things are changing and in some ways they will be competitive, but it is not a surprise for them what has happened and in some ways in confirms the stereotype that they had all along that English football is great.

'If it had been German football it would have been a bit more distressing for them, but the fact that it is England is okay because they have the idea that England is the home of the game and they are okay with that.'

Might they even take a lot of pride if someone Capello sorts out the England team and leads it to genuine success?
'It is interesting, you'd think they would be delighted, but I don't get the impression that the country is full of pride. He is a potential rival to Italy now as [Giovanni] Trapattoni has been with Ireland. Rather than it being seen as a successful exporting of talent, it is seen more as symptomatic of the fact the rest of the world has been able to smash and grab from what was for the Italians their shop window. But it is huge credit to the tactical training they get in Serie A.'

At Chelsea everyone worshipped Gianfranco Zola. Was he held in such high esteem in Italy?
'Yes. We've talked about whether the Italians are proud of their managers abroad but when Zola won the Footballer of the Year Award in England in 1997 they were bowled over by that. He is a terrific guy and everybody loved him and they loved the fact that he went back and played his last seasons at Cagliari when it clearly wasn't a career move. He had a great time with them and I remember the final game was at Juventus and he scored two goals and had a brilliant game.

'I don't think anyone has a bad word to say about him. He was doing reasonably well coaching with the Under 21s but there was no fallout from him leaving that for West Ham.

'One thing that is curious about the Italians is they are quite insular and for years, a footballer who went abroad would not figure in the Italian national team. That is beginning to change a little bit now but even someone like Giuseppe Rossi who plays at Villarreal finds it hard to make it into the Italy side. With Zola, he was away for so long and became so rooted in London. The Italians have such a tradition of emigrating that it is almost as if the players have gone off to join another country, because traditionally Italians go off and look for their fortune abroad.'

What about the puzzle that Andriy Shevchenko became at Chelsea? Would most people who watched Serie A regularly have put their house on him being a success in England?
'When he scored in the Community Shield at the start it all looked good. A lot of people talk about the curse of the European Footballer of the Year award and that the winners traditionally have a rubbish season afterwards, and in some cases never comeback. Shevchenko didn't have it easy after winning the award, and from the Christmas onwards after wining it I think he was playing with injury.

'He was rotten in the 2005 Champions League Final, missed an absolute sitter, and I think most people thought it was a shame he was going because it sent the wrong sort of message but it was actually good business by Milan because he was on the downward. The fact that the wheels came off so quickly afterwards I think took everybody in Italy by surprise, but even though football seems to be the same game all over the world - it is a round ball everywhere and the same shape field - there are huge pressures and huge influences on the way you are able to express yourself. He just didn't fit in I guess.'

Moving up to date, how is Jose Mourinho now regarded in Italy?
'He immediately slotted in, became part of the landscape and wound everybody up, which they didn't take very kindly too. In Serie A there seems to be a lot more goodwill between the coaches, although not always because a couple of managers were kicking each other on the sidelines a couple of years ago, but generally speaking there is an unspoken camaraderie between managers and players as well.

'You will see managers helping each other a lot more than you do over here. When Mourinho waded in slagging off Ranieri and saying he was like 70-year-old who has never won anything; slagged off Ancelotti; had a row with someone at Palermo and basically had a pop at everybody, it caught them by surprise because he was effectively a person who had it all to prove in Italy.

'Mourinho said that Italy was the most difficult place tactically to manage and in that sense he had yet to pass the exam. Although he won the title at the first attempt, Inter are so far ahead of the game and are spending so much more than anybody else, nobody really regards that as being a testament to his cleverness.

'Europe has always been the key and although he was charming when he first arrived, using Milanese slang and this type of thing, he immediately got himself quite a reputation. It didn't take that long for people to watch and say you are the Special One, where is the football?

'They were playing awfully. They could get by because the level of the talent is better than anybody else but in terms of the football played, they were probably not in the top half of Serie A. Now that is beginning to change this year. The arrival of Wesley Sneijder has finally sorted out a major hole that Inter have had for about a decade and as a result they are playing some decent football. The win in Kiev was huge for them, the fact they finally got a result in Europe after a year without a win in the Champions League and the amount of spending they had spent.

'So he has wound a lot of people up but he is the gift that keeps on giving in terms of column-inches and when you have got three daily newspapers about sport to fill, then he is never going to be out the headlines.'

The club's official website has launched a new Chelsea toolbar which can be downloaded into your browser.

The toolbar offers five essential tabs for all Chelsea fans, including the freshest content delivered directly to your browser, no matter where you are on the web.

You can also check out our favourite places on the internet and receive important news and announcements instantly on your PC.

There's a news ticker that will keep you up to date with everything Chelsea as it happens, you can link straight through to our Twitter page, Facebook Fan Page and Youtube as well, and connect directly to The Shed. There's even a search window for your own personalised Chelsea google page.

The toolbar will simply combine with your web browser, appearing at the top of the page, and allow you direct access to your favourite football club.

For more information or to download the toolbar application click here.

If you've not taken the opportunity to ask Carlo Ancelotti a question in Chelseamagazine yet, now is the time to think of what you would like to ask the Blues manager.

Each month in our exclusive feature, 'You ask the questions', Carlo answers a selection of questions from supporters.

The Blues currently have a five-point lead at the top of the Barclays Premier League having beaten Manchester United in our last match. You can find out what Carlo thinks about our fantastic start to the season, what goes on at Cobham during an international break and what he thinks we have to do to maintain our form. Or you might want to know something about the man himself and what he enjoys outside football.

All you have to do is email your question in to Chelsea@programmemaster.co.uk and we'll ask him the best ones during a one-on-one interview at our Cobham training ground.

The December edition of Chelsea magazine is on sale now in all good newsagents and the club Megastore at Stamford Bridge, priced at £3.25.

For 14 years, journalist and TV presenter James Richardson was the man who brought Italian football into UK homes as the front man for live Serie A coverage and the peerless Gazetta Football Italia show.

Last week he was reacquainted with Carlo Ancelotti when he came to interview the Chelsea manager at Cobham for a forthcoming edition of Four-Four-Two magazine. The official Chelsea website took the chance to turn the tables on the interviewer and ask James for recollections of the Ancelotti he observed building a big reputation in Italy.

To what degree were you aware of Carlo Ancelotti when you began covering Italian football for television in 1992?
'He had just retired from playing and was probably at that point assistant manager to Arrigo Sacchi with the Italian national team. I had been following the Italian game a while before that so I was aware of Carlo from playing in the Italia 90 World Cup. He was quite a distinctive figure as a player with his smooth cheeks.

'He is such an affable person that everybody gets on with him. He's a man in touch with life's simple pleasures. He had a fairly fast rise as a manager. He did great work in the second division and then he was at Parma which was the first time I actually met him.

'He went to Juventus where he didn't have the happiest of times but it was a very difficult situation. The Juve fans tend to be fairly snobby about all sorts of things, especially who is in charge of their football team, and there was a feeling that he wasn't the right man. His Parma team had been Juve's big rivals in almost every competition for a while, plus there was the fact that he had been a Milan player as well.

'But Carlo was a great person to speak to, a very intelligent man, very open, and he always seemed to find himself in interesting situations as well. So he was always someone we would try to interview and we would get to do that a couple of times a season.'

There is a story that the announcement he was to leave Juventus was made at half-time in the final game of the 2000/01 season when the team were not mathematically out of the title race.
'It must have been well known in the club before then because I remember interviewing [returning manager] Marcello Lippi before the end of that season, and it must have been a maximum of a couple of days after the end of the season that they had a press conference with Lippi and [assistant] Roberto Bettega because we were able to cover it for our broadcast. So it must have been all in place.'

He took over Milan following a period of instability for the club in terms of manager.
'He followed Fatih Terim, and he was about to take over at his old club Parma again, who were having an equally unhappy time. One of the few controversial things he did in his career was basically standing up Parma and going to Milan. Obviously Milan is a completely different job than Parma and thank heavens he did from Milan's point of view because he did a brilliant job there.

'It was a difficult time when he began. It was a club that under [Silvio] Berlusconi got used to being the best in the world. They had a series of problems and I think Carlo was a return to Berlusconi's desired way of doing things which was going within the Milan family. It is true Sacchi had been a major departure from that, and that had been Berlusconi's choice, but with Ancelotti, not only was he coming in but a whole load of players from that same Milan era were there - Galli, Baresi, Tassotti who came in with Ancelotti. They populated the various levels of player development there. It was consciously a back-to-the-future style move.

'The weird thing was that when he went to Milan, he had a reputation as being quite a traditional, tactically-rigid 4-4-2 manager. Famously he was the one who sold [Gianfranco] Zola to Chelsea when he was the Parma manager. Equally, Roberto Baggio was supposed to be signing for Parma and the deal was done but it is said Ancelotti said I don't want this guy in my team.

'He had a reputation for being this guy who didn't have any time for the Number 10, the fantasista, yet within a few months at Milan he was fielding four in one side. So there was a real tactical inversion compared with what had gone on before. Maybe he was given a freer hand at Milan which would be ironic because it always seemed like he wasn't given a free hand with Berlusconi leaning over his shoulder.'

Is eight years in charge of a club like Milan a rare and special achievement?
'It is a very long spell. I'm trying to think of who would be comparable and I am failing. Capello had a couple of stints but the longest of those was five years.

'The last three or four years of Ancelotti it was always being said that he will be gone by Christmas, he won't get to eat his panettone as the saying goes. But each time he turned it around. I don't think they were saying that because he wasn't a good manager, just because the situation was increasingly difficult. Milan were increasingly running on the fumes of what had been in the tank, if you know what I mean.'

The middle stage of Ancelotti's Milan career, the football played was portrayed in as more stylish and entertaining than the Serie A norm
'There is a massive stereotype about Italian football, which in many ways Milan typified under Fabio Capello, especially the famous season when they won the league scoring 36 goals in 34 matches.

'To be fair that was Capello reacting to adversity because Marco van Basten had gone in for a routine ankle operation and never came back. So they basically had four defenders in one of the great back lines, and they stuck Marcel Desailly in front of that, so there was no way anyone was scoring any goals.

'That typified a very defensive phase all the way through the 1990s which to be fair, Ancelotti was part of. His teams weren't particularly free-scoring but at Milan it was quite the opposite. There was a sudden return to the importance of the Number 10 in Italy and that was keyed by Milan where you had Rui Costa, Rivaldo, Seedorf and Pirlo all in the same line up. Then you had Kaká taking the place of Rivaldo. They played the most entertaining football. It didn't always work but when people gave them time and room to play, they were a great side.'

If people wish to find fault in Ancelotti's record at Milan they tend to point to just one domestic championship in eight seasons. Was he unfortunate not to win more?
'First you had Juve dominating and then the last couple of years Inter. Both of those last two seasons you have to have asterisks next to them because of Calciopoli [the match-rigging scandal involving influence on referees, mostly by Juventus]. There was also the fact that the Milan side, because of age and health, could do well in the cup competitions but wasn't really built for a league run.

'The season after Calciopoli in 2006, Milan were playing catch-up. He started with an eight-point deduction and they had their summer planning massively disrupted because until late on they didn't know whether they were playing in Europe, whether they were playing in the second division. They weren't able to make the signings they were expected to make, and they had to call players back from holiday to the training camp because they suddenly found themselves in the preliminary rounds of the Champions League.

'So the whole thing was a mess, and Inter in the mean time had reinforced massively so it should be seen within the context of what was a very complex situation.

'Even at Juve Ancelotti came second twice in a row which is not a disgrace and if I remember rightly he was let down very badly by Edwin van der Sar. My impression was they were a goalie short of being a really good side.

'But Milan were an advert for football when they were paying well and three Champions League Finals in five years, two of which were won is very impressive.I'm not sure how many managers have come close to that in the last 20 years.'

The interview continues tomorrow when James Richardson's views widen to include other Chelsea personalities who have worked in Italy, including Gianfranco Zola and Jose Mourinho.