Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has said he is discussing his future with Major League Soccer team Montreal Impact but that retirement talk was premature. French media reported on Wednesday that the 37-year-old Ivorian was to quit playing and join the coaching staff of Premier League champions Chelsea under interim manager Guus Hiddink. "Lovely to receive these messages but I have not yet announced my retirement and am still in discussion with @impactmontreal about my future," Drogba, who has a contract with Montreal Impact through to December, posted on Twitter.
Struggling Premier League champions Chelsea have the quality to climb back up the table under interim manager Guus Hiddink, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has said.
Seasonal cheer has been scarce for Louis van Gaal after a six-match winless sequence for his Manchester United side intensified rumours that he will be sacked and Stoke City are unlikely to be offering any solace on Saturday.
Rediff.com presents a factbox Antonio Conte who will take over from Guus Hiddink after Euro 2016.
Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink has reminded Eden Hazard of his priorities, asking the midfielder to focus on improving his form.
Chelsea striker Diego Costa will become the latest Chelsea player to wear a protective mask after breaking his nose, leading interim manager Guus Hiddink to liken his side to a 'team of Zorros'.
Chelsea's French defender Kurt Zouma will be out for six months after surgery on a knee injury suffered at the weekend, the Premier League champions said on Monday.
Long-serving defender John Terry will remain Chelsea's captain in the coming season, new manager Antonio Conte said on Thursday at his first news conference since joining the Premier League club. Terry, 35, signed a new one-year contract at Stamford Bridge in May to end speculation that he was going to leave the London club after more than 700 appearances. He remains a firm favourite with the club's fans. "John Terry is captain of this team. He is a great player with a great personality and charisma. He knows the club. We take all decisions together with the club and I am very happy John signed," Conte said.
Indonesia wants former Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho to train its beleaguered national football team, the country's sports minister said on Tuesday.
Chelsea's Guus Hiddink believed his side could qualify for next season's Champions League with a top-four finish but he has now virtually written off their chances.
First-half goals by Danny Welbeck and Alex Iwobi earned Arsenal a first win in four league games to revive their Premier League title hopes in the early kickoff at Goodison Park on Saturday.
Leicester City were give a Premier League reality check when the unlikely leaders lost 1-0 at Liverpool on Saturday after Manchester United slumped to a third consecutive league defeat to pile more pressure on manager Louis van Gaal.
Victory for the Netherlands in Friday's Euro 2016 qualifier in Latvia would have been seen as practically guaranteed after a successful World Cup in Brazil but a faltering qualifying campaign has precipitated a confidence crisis.
John Terry made an emotional address to his devoted Chelsea fans on the Stamford Bridge pitch on Sunday, telling them that he still wanted to stay at the club.
Sergio Aguero was acclaimed as "the best striker in the Premier League" by manager Manuel Pellegrini after his hat-trick helped Manchester City beat Chelsea 3-0 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Italian Antonio Conte was named as Chelsea's new head coach with a three-year contract, the outgoing Premier League champions announced on Monday.
Brilliant Zlatan Ibrahimovic leaves Chelsea feeling blue.
England centre back Gary Cahill is so frustrated by a lack of first-team football at Chelsea that he wants to leave the club in an attempt to safeguard his international place at the European Championship in the summer.
Martin Jol's two-year spell as Fulham manager ended on Sunday after the Dutchman proved unable to reverse the club's sinking fortunes.
All eyes will be on Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal when he takes his team to Derby County for an FA Cup fourth-round tie on Friday with the fans' boos from their home defeat by Southampton still ringing in his ears.
Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech has made a surprise return to Chelsea's training ground ahead of Sunday's big London derby after Adidas sent a consignment of gloves to his former club by mistake. Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink, whose misfiring champions travel to Cech's Premier League leaders on Sunday, made light of the situation at a news conference on Friday. "I was here when Petr showed up. It was nice to see him," the Dutchman told reporters at the Cobham facility to the south-west of London. "We had a chat here. Almost everyone was gone already, it was late afternoon....we tried to hide them, which he did not accept. Also we tried to make them a little bit slippery but he discovered that also. "They were wrongly sent here and we gave them back. It was nice. That's the story."
Manchester United's winless run continued but they gave under-fire coach Louis van Gaal crumbs of cheer with a committed display in an entertaining 0-0 draw with Chelsea while Arsenal went top of the table on Monday.
However, cracks in the relationship surfaced this season as the team's form slumped, with the first signs appearing as early as August when Mourinho hauled Terry off at halftime during a 3-0 defeat to ManchesterCity.
A fierce work ethic, an astute tactical brain and the ability to forge superb team spirit all combined to make Italian Antonio Conte an acclaimed winner in his own country which is why Chelsea have chosen him to revive their fortunes in England.
As Chelsea's season suffered a final sorry implosion with an FA Cup defeat at Everton on Saturday, it was fitting that it should end with another display of fury from their angry young man, Diego Costa. While the inquest into the Premier League champions' dismal campaign will continue long after their 2-0 quarter-final reverse at Everton, the immediate topic consuming social media centred on the combustible Spain striker's sending-off, surprisingly his first for Chelsea. Alan Shearer, one of England's greatest strikers, joined the debate by telling BBC viewers the Brazilian-born forward had become "tiresome". Much of the attention focused on whether Costa, who became embroiled in a late face-to-face brouhaha with Everton's Gareth Barry, had gone as far as biting his opponent, Luis Suarez-style. Another question was whether he spat at the feet of referee Michael Oliver after being booked earlier for an altercation with Barry. "It's tiresome from him now. He spends too much time abusing and fighting and scrapping," Shearer said. "You can't do that every game because you turn the ref against you."
Premier League champions Chelsea, beginning to find their form under Guus Hiddink after a shocking start to the season, will face Manchester City in the outstanding tie of the FA Cup fifth round following Sunday's draw.
"Diego Costa's out which means we have to solve that problem in 24 hours," new interim coach Guus Hiddink told reporters.
Paris St Germain substitute Edinson Cavani, criticised by French media lacking composure in front of goal, responded in style to earn a 2-1 home win over Chelsea in their Champions League last-16 first leg on Tuesday.
The two losses in Blind's first two games left the Dutch floundering in fourth place in Group A, needing to overhaul a two-point deficit on third placed Turkey with two games to play in October to have any chance of reaching the Euro 2016 finals via the November play-offs.
Tottenham Hotspur lost their cool and their Premier League title hopes as they let slip a two-goal lead at Chelsea to draw a stormy London derby 2-2 on Monday.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored the winner as Paris St Germain beat Chelsea 2-1 to knock them out of the Champions League for the second successive season at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
A goal in added time by Diego Costa earned Chelsea a 1-1 draw against Manchester United on Sunday and preserved Guus Hiddink's unbeaten record while denying Dutch compatriot Louis van Gaal victory.
There was no way through for Chelsea as Watford halted their recent resurgence in a goalless Premier League stalemate at Vicarage Road while Everton piled more woe on Newcastle United with a 3-0 victory on Wednesday.
Chelsea captain John Terry will leave the Premier League champions when his contract expires at the end of the season, he told British media on Sunday.
Chelsea put all their struggles away and looked like a renewed squad, stamping their class over Crystal Palace in their English Premier League match at the Selhurst Park on Sunday.
Guus Hiddink believes it is still possible for Chelsea to finish in the English Premier League's top four but has told the club's players to have a long look in the mirror.
Romelu Lukaku scored two goals for Everton, one demonstrating rare strength and skill, to knock his old side Chelsea out of the FA Cup 2-0 in a dramatic quarter-final featuring two red cards on Saturday. All the frantic action happened in the final 13 minutes with Chelsea striker Diego Costa and Everton midfielder Gareth Barry sent off but their dismissals only came after Lukaku's brilliance had put the tie beyond doubt. The powerful Belgium striker, who never fitted in at Stamford Bridge and was sold to the Merseysiders for 28 million pounds ($40.28 million) two years ago, proved irresistible with his late five-minute double, especially with a first goal destined to go down in Goodison Park folklore. As the game meandered towards a replay, Lukaku conjured a 77th-minute goal from nowhere, muscling past two defenders on the left, powering into the box and, after some nifty footwork to bamboozle Gary Cahill, firing in a left-foot effort. Everton manager Roberto Martinez hailed it "one of the great goals we will see in the FA Cup".
John Terry will pass into Chelsea folklore as their greatest captain during the most successful period in their history and his announcement on Sunday that he will leave at the end of the season marks the end of an era.
When Netherlands striker Robin van Persie put away a spectacular diving header against world champions Spain on a balmy afternoon at last year's World Cup it set them on the way to a 5-1 win and the promise of glory.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances