Jose Tells Rivals: 'you Must Improve'

[Shivek]

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho insists their Premiership rivals must improve if they hope to even challenge for the title.

The Blues coasted to their first league championship triumph in 50 years last season and also won the Carling Cup as Mourinho made the most of Roman Abramovich's financial backing.

And the Portuguese coach, who won the Champions League with Porto, said the emphasis is on Arsenal and Manchester United now to match the champions.

'This season other teams know how strong we are and they have to improve. If they are the same then they have no chance.

'We have to show the rest of the Premiership that they cannot win at Stamford Bridge. Every fortnight must be three points, three points, three points.

'At the start of the season, I wanted to win everything. I'm frustrated because we did not win everything last season,' Mourinho is quoted in The Sun.

'I don't want people here to remember me as the manager who won the Premiership after 50 years and then had five more seasons of resting on that.

'We know it will be harder for us this season but I always think the most difficult thing is to win the first trophy then defend it.'

Mourinho also admitted his surprise about fans' loyalty in Britain, highlighting the case of Sir Alex Ferguson's United, who were given a standing ovation at Old Trafford at the end of the season despite failing to win a trophy.

'I saw the Manchester United players and manager after their last home game go for a lap of honour after losing to us.

'If they had done that in Portugal they would have had bottles thrown at them,' said Mourinho.

This guy just won a Premiership title and Carling and hes bullshitting like a mad dog! I think he's too scared of Arsenal!

[tso310]

Speaking as a neutral, well if Sunderland can stay up that will be a major victory, as long as he's delivering who can argue. However there were definate signs that people are begining to tire of his manner. Still can't see anyone challenging The Blues. Gunners to be runners up and I tip Liverpool to be 3rd.

[davethailand]

What a jumped up little ponce he is

The blues are gonna be disappointed next season.

[lampard10]

What a jumped up little ponce he is

The blues are gonna be disappointed next season.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A jumped up Portuguese ponce please Dave. We want to seperate him from the jumped up Scottish ponce and the jumped up French ponce. Both of which have been a pain-in-the-arse for the last ten or so years.

[Sarpedon]

They may all be ponces but once againt he Blues will finish as champions. I cant see anyone beating them this season.

Arsenal will end up second but a lots still depends on their signings over the summer. So far they only have Hleb fron Stuttgart and the rumours of Pires to Turkey and Vieira in a swap deal possibly to Juve still wont go away. if they do sell these player they will need to rplace them. I think Pires might be possibly the most missed if he does go. He comes up with some crucial goals.

Man U...well they might get 3rd but i reckon Liverpool will give them a run for it.

So longs as athe mighty Spurs can push on this season and get top 6 i will be happy...they got Routledge, Tainio, Lennon, Huddlestone, Davenport to add already to their young talented squad. No reason whay they cant make top 6 this coming season...

[Shivek]

Arsenal must buy new players but their deal with Baptista, Essien, and Robinho is almost over!

[ProfessorFart]

I bet he would have swapped the premiership title for his, er I mean Liverpool's champions league title anyday!

[Sarpedon]

With the p;ayers they are supposed to be after they will only get stronger...Essien and SWP! The only glimmer of good news is that with so many new players coming in other player who will be pushed down the pecking order will want to leave to get regular football with the World Cup coming up...

Parker already gone, Bridge, Johnson and Joe cole must be thinking about leaving too!

[nev]

not to many will leave they are on too fatter wage cheque not many teams can afford there wage demands and you no not many like a pay cut.

will only cause unrest and unsettle the team.

[lampard10]

With the p;ayers they are supposed to be after they will only get stronger...Essien and SWP! The only glimmer of good news is that with so many new players coming in other player who will be pushed down the pecking order will want to leave to get regular football with the World Cup coming up...

Parker already gone, Bridge, Johnson and Joe cole must be thinking about leaving too!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think you're wrong there. I believe that Jose is trying to get the nucleus of England players at Chelsea, and that can only be good for England. You never know, he might be after the England job himself, and would probably walk into it if Sven left.

[Sarpedon]

Makes sense about him trying to get the nucleus of england players togethger but he wont be getting Robinson, Defoe, Carrick or King because of the agreement about poaching our players over the Arnesen tapping up.

I think Mourinho would walk into any footballing job right now.

[lampard10]

Makes sense about him trying to get the nucleus of england players togethger but he wont be getting Robinson, Defoe, Carrick or King because of the agreement about poaching our players over the Arnesen tapping up.

I think Mourinho would walk into any footballing job right now.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm still not sure about Cudicini's status. Has he already played for Italy? If not he could be eligable to play for England. If we had a top world class goalie? Well.....................................

[tso310]

Makes sense about him trying to get the nucleus of england players togethger but he wont be getting Robinson, Defoe, Carrick or King because of the agreement about poaching our players over the Arnesen tapping up.

I think Mourinho would walk into any footballing job right now.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm still not sure about Cudicini's status. Has he already played for Italy? If not he could be eligable to play for England. If we had a top world class goalie? Well.....................................

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Cudicini played against Benfica. Crespo played as well. The match was live on Sky.

[Shivek]

Chelsea in trouble again:

De Lucas sues Chelsea for millions

LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) - Chelsea's former Spanish midfielder Enrique De Lucas is suing the English champions for more than £2.5 million after they terminated his contract in 2003.

De Lucas, who began a London High Court action on Monday, is seeking damages in unpaid wages, bonuses, appearance fees, accommodation and other expenses, including English language tuition.

The 27-year-old's move to English football in 2002 was a complex one involving Spanish club Deportivo Alaves.

His case, which is expected to last three days, centres on whether or not Chelsea breached their contract with the player by sending him to play for Alaves after he had made 31 appearances for the west London club in 2002-03.

[Sarpedon]

Bit of a long read but quite interesting:

MOSCOW - Roman Abramovich, Russia's richest man and owner of London's Chelsea Football Club, quietly lost a court case in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) last week. But the sound of the judge's ruling is about to toll right round the world. For the first time in one of the most successful careers in the world of what Karl Marx once called primitive capital accumulation, Abramovich is facing a court order, outside Russia, to explain how he and his oil companies seized control of a Russian oilfield the owner has accused him of stealing.

At stake in court is a group of oilfields in Khanty-Mansiisk known as Priobskoye, worth about US$4 billion. The value of the acquisition, allegedly masterminded by Abramovich two years ago, which the court has said it will now adjudicate, is about $2 billion. Before the court rules on the evidence, however, and most embarrassing and serious for Abramovich personally, he has been ordered to reveal where he has hidden the proceeds - along with every asset he owns worth more than $1 million.

Until now, Abramovich has been able to evade all claims of fraud and other illegalities alleged against Millhouse, his United Kingdom-based asset holding company, Sibneft, his principal cash cow and oil producer, and the myriad associated companies registered in tax havens across the globe. Abramovich's spokesman, John Mann, told an English newspaper this month that "any attempt to drag Mr Abramovich into litigation would be misguided, since he is not on Sibneft's board and had no role in its dealings with Sibir".

Sibir Energy Plc, an oil producer listed on the Alternative Investment Market in London, has already filed charges of massive fraud against the Abramovich group in Russian courts. These are proceeding, although Abramovich has been winning on his home ground. Sibir's financial statement for 2004 indicates that, minus the benefit of the Priobskoye oilfield, it had revenues of about $320 million, earning a pre-tax profit of about $40 million.

Sibir is principally owned by Chalva Tschigirinsky, a Moscow entrepreneur. The Priobskoye oilfield is a vital asset in a partnership that Tschigirinsky has with the Moscow city government and the Moscow oil refinery to create a vertically integrated structure supplying the city with petroleum products refined from its own crude. Sibir is accusing Abramovich and his companies of fraudulently diluting and converting its 50% stake in the Priobskoye asset to less than 1%.

In August 2002, in a fierce battle between Abramovich, Tschigirinsky and the mayor of Moscow, Yury Luzhkov, Abramovich's Sibneft tried, but failed to take control of the refinery. For a time Sibneft cut off part of its crude oil supply. Abramovich has personally made no secret that his subsequent takeover of Sibir's stake in Priovskoye was, as he personally told Luzhkov, retaliation for losing the refinery battle.

The High Court of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) has taken jurisdiction over Sibir's claim against the Russian oligarch because in his effort to spirit the asset out of Russian control, Abramovich used several BVI companies he secretly controls. They are listed in the court order as Gregory Trading, Richard Enterprises, Shaw Invest & Finance and Carroll Trading. All are said to be located at the same address - Trident Chambers, Wickhams Cay, Road Town in Tortola.

The court has appointed an independent receiver to take over the shares of three of the BVI companies that are part of the fraud claim. The other companies, including entities registered in Cyprus and Panama, as well as Abramovich himself, have been ordered not to make any move to shift the shares outside the BVI court's jurisdiction, or the control of the companies that presently hold them. The proceeds from oil sales currently under way from the oilfield have also been frozen.

Details of Sibir's claim in the BVI court, and of the reply by Abramovich's lawyers, are still under court seal. What has already been publicly disclosed by both sides is that Sibir and Sibneft were equal, 50%, stakeholders in a joint venture called Sibneft Yugra to develop the Priobskoye area. Sibneft was to fund the development while Sibir and its Russian operating company, Yugraneft, were to repay Sibneft and then share the proceeds of oil sales equally. However, according to Sibir, Abramovich, his associate David Davidovich and their subordinates secretly converted Sibir's and Yugraneft's stakes into holdings of the BVI companies and others for Abramovich's benefit.

Speaking for Abramovich, Mann has claimed that "everything that Sibir has done related to Sibneft Yugra has been within the framework of a set of agreements between our shareholders and their shareholders". Sibir's chief executive officer Henry Cameron has been reported in a Moscow newspaper as saying, "This is all nonsense. We would like them to disclose to us what those agreements are."

The BVI judge has ordered Abramovich companies to produce these agreements in court and reveal "when, from whom and for what consideration it acquired interests in the share capital of Sibneft-Yugra presently registered in its name". In addition, the companies have been ordered to hand over their banking details. Although Sibneft makes its financial accounts public, the others don't. If forced to comply with the BVI court, the elaborate system through which Abramovich directs billions of dollars of oil revenues will be exposed for the first time. The evidence may then be used by UK authorities in London to investigate whether any money-laundering statutes have been violated by Abramovich's high-profile spending in the UK, notably on Chelsea.

"We have not acted in any way illegally," Mann has told a London newspaper. "All court cases so far have confirmed that." He was referring to the courts of the Khanty-Mansiisk region and the Moscow Arbitration Court. The decisions, which have gone both ways, are still pending on appeal.

In her ruling on Sibir's claim no 174/05, issued on Wednesday, and obtained from the court record in Tortola late Friday, Judge Indra Charles of the BVI court requires Abramovich to file an affidavit "stating the value, location and details of all his assets exceeding $1 million in value wheresoever situated and whether in...his own name or not and whether solely or jointly owned, giving the value, location and details of all such assets." The judge has set a deadline of July 22 to comply. If he fails, Abramovich and his companies face serious contempt of court charges that can be enforced in England. According to the court order, Abramovich has two personal UK addresses: Flat 2, 39 Lowndes Square, London SW1, and Fyning Hill Estate, Rogate, Petersfield, Hampshire.

The Sibir charge that Abramovich is a fraudster is not the first of its kind against him. In September 2003, Abramovich had been behind a transaction in which a company he secretly controlled sold a gold deposit called Maiskoye to Highland Gold, a London goldminer also controlled by men close to Abramovich, on terms that had been financially sweetened by the Chukotka regional administration that Abramovich headed as governor. At the time, Abramovich's spokesman Mann claimed that the seller of Maiskoye "is not connected in any way whatsoever with Abramovich". Subsequent admissions by executives of Highland Gold revealed that Abramovich was the seller of Maiskoye. Russian and UK officials reportedly examined the charges in 2004, but took no action.