The Chelsea Daily Drivel

The Chelsea Daily Drivel is a daily update of all the stories concerning our club, the rumours, the opinions and more....

So here is the latest from around the web on Friday 23rd July 2010 including: Forest have an eye on Van Aanholt, Alex out for a month, Neymar's father does his nut over Chelsea bid and Chelsea prepare to face Ajax this afternoon.

Firstly to news of another of our promising youngsters Patrick Van Aanholt. With the likes of Cole, Zhirkov, Ferriera ahead in the pecking order it seems that a loan move could be on the cards to gain vital first team experience and Nottingham Forest are believed to be interested. Van Aanholt had spells at Coventry and Newcastle last season and its believed Forest Manager Billy Davies wants to take him to the City Ground. Van Aanholt is comfortable playing left back or centre back and would provide Davies with options this season.. More on this to follow..

Now to news of another blow before the season starts, Alex is out for a month after picking up a thigh injury in training. Its a blow to Chelsea as we have already lost Petr Cech and now Alex. At the moment Ancelotti has options available to him to cover for Alex in Ivanovic (with Ferreira coming in at right back) or Carvalho if he remains at the club after all the speculation recently about a move away.

Let's hope Alex gets back to full fitness sooner rather than later as I think you all would agree he is the main man next to JT these days!.

Now to news of Chelsea's reported bid the other day for Neymar. Santos rejected Chelsea's advances and Neymar's father is not happy at all! He said:

“Santos just said ‘no’ before even talking with us, Why would they do that? They must listen to Neymar to know what he has to say about it.”

You have to say, its encouraging to hear that his father isn't happy and obviously Neymar has his own opinion on what's happened and it appears he is definatley interested in coming to London and working with Ancelotti who has a proven track record of getting the best out of Brazilians who come to play in Europe.

Let's hope we go back to Santos with another bid and further test their resolve.

Now to Pre Season and today its our second game as we travel to the Amsterdam Arena to take on AJAX. Kick off is at 1630 and can be seen live on Chelsea TV. Make sure you tune in to see the boys take on Martin Jol's side. Remember, most of the World Cup participants have only just returned to training so will not feature along with Bosingwa, Benayoun, Alex and Cech.

Carlo spoke ahead of the game today and said:

'I think that against Ajax we will play 45 minutes each for Turnbull and Hilario, and I think Turnbull will start the game, There are no more coming that didn't play against Crystal Palace, so Yossi Benayoun is out and Alex has a problem in his thigh but with the other players it is the same squad. It is a pre-season match so we don't have too many targets, just to improve our condition and put the players in better condition for the start of the season.

I think that we played with a good tempo in the first game and if we can do the same it would be good. This week was a hard week in training, and the players could be a little bit tired on Friday. Some will play longer, I don't want to make a lot of changes because we now need the players to be playing 90 minutes

Let's hope we put in a good performance once more.. No more injuries!!!.. Match report will follow tomorrow..

Finally to todays Drivel Giggle!. I have to say like the majority of you I am gutted to hear that Chelsea have jumped on the bandwagon and officially banned those Vuvuzelas from Stamford Bridge!. The official statement on the club website said:

Chelsea Football Club can confirm that vuvuzelas will not be permitted inside or around Stamford Bridge.

The decision has been made to ensure the continued enjoyment and safety of fans following consultation with the club's stakeholders, including fans' representatives who showed strong support for a ban.

Gutted! I can imagine the Shed End and Matthew Harding disregarding the Chelsea song books they have for those things and blowing em all day!....NOT!..those things do my head in!

KTBFFH & Come on Chelsea.