Chelsea Sign Edinson Cavani!

Edinson Cavani Signs for The Blues!

Chelsea fans woke up to a huge surprise today morning as they saw Uruguayan Superstar  Edinson Cavani entering Stamford Bridge - reportedly to undergo a medical for the club. A few hours after the 26 year old was sighted at Stamford Bridge, the reports that Cavani would be signing for the Blues in a deal which would see Radamel Falcao depart for Old Trafford were confirmed

Cavani is without a doubt one of the best forwards in the world and if that wasn't enough to sign convince Hancock to sign him, the fact that the Uruguayan has managed to score 7 goals and assist 9 even though his team have been struggling (currently 14th) would have made any manager eager to sign the 26 year old.

Manager Hancock talked to reporters after the Cavani deal was made public, this is what he had to say:

"I'm very happy as we've managed to sign Edinson who's one of the best CF in the world. He's an incredible player and is definitely one of the best in the world and is a great addition to Chelsea.

We had to let go of another great striker in Radamel Falcao as well as 21 year old Tom Ince but as far as I'm concerned, getting Cavani for the duo is a bargain. Falcao is an amazing player but I'd much rather have Cavani over him and although Ince is talented, he was never really in my plans for the club.

There's still 14 games left to go for the season and although I would love to win the title and it's technically still within our reach as we're only 7 points off the top and that is certainly a margin we can overcome if we perform to our ability but ideally I'd be happy with a top 4 finish and I'm confident that with Cavani spear-heading our attack, we should be able to finish in a Champions League spot.

I wish Radamel and Ince the best of luck at United and hope that they both succeed at Old Trafford"

Cavani has reportedly signed a 4 season contract with Chelsea with a reported wage of £71,000 per turn.

Hancock Busy in the Transfer Market

Hancock Busy in the Transfer Market!

Newly-appointed Chelsea boss - Hancock has been a very busy man in the transfer market as he has already agreed 4 deals to bring in new players to the club, and all of them with the Black Cats. Hancock is known for his active methods in the transfer market but it was still a big surprise for Chelsea fans and football fans all over the world to see some of the best players in the world being bought & sold.

The first 'main' deal to be announced is made up of 3 individual deals, each deal seeing world-class players switch teams. The first deal saw 21 year old Brazilian Neymar Junior, arguably the best young player in the world and a player who Hancock is a known admirer of, arrive at Stamford and in exchange Cesc Fabregas & £7.5 million. The second deal will see 21 year old Alarcon Isco, another one of the world's best young players move to Chelsea and 19 year old Julian Draxler along with some cash. The third and final part will see 26 year old midfielder Arturo Vidal moving to Sunderland and Chelsea will receive Kevin Strootman, young Tiemoue Bakayoko and some cash.

                                                                  
The deal is without a doubt an absolute monster of a deal with some absolutely amazing players moving to Sunderland & Chelsea and it is a deal which has left both managers (Raz and Hancock) very happy. Here's what Chelsea manager Hancock had to say after this deal was announced to the press:

"It doesn't take a genius to figure out just how happy I am with the deal I've managed to agree with Raz. Neymar and Isco are two of my favourite players and they're both just 21 years old! Kevin Strootman is another amazing player, he's the Dutch National Team Captain and he's just 24 years of age! We let go of some great players in Fabregas, Vidal and Draxler, there's no doubt about it but we've received three world-class players who've got a lot ahead of them and are still not at their peak.

I'm especially delighted with Isco & Neymar as I've been a great fan of both of them for a long time and it's amazing to have them both in the same team. They're both just 21 and they're already incredible players and they've got the potential to be the best in the world. Neymar & Isco - that's the future of Chelsea FC"

Soon after the huge '3-part-deal' with Sunderland was announced, Hancock surprised everyone yet again as it was announced that David Silva, who's one of the club's longest serving members was to be leaving - and yes, to Sunderland again! The 28 year old will leave for Sunderland and in exchange, fellow Spaniard Pedro Rodriguez along with 17 year-old super-talent Jonathan Tah will be coming to Stamford Bridge. Chelsea will also be getting talented 18 year-old Stipe Perica as part of the deal. 

                   
Chelsea fans will have to wait though, to see Pedro in a Chelsea jersey as the 26 year old will only be officially signing for the club on the 22nd of March. Pedro & Jonathan Tah will both be signing on the 22nd of March and Stipe Perica is also expected to sign sometime in March. Reporters caught up to a visibly pleased Hancock soon after this deal was announced and this is what the new Chelsea boss had to say:

"I'm very happy that we've managed to agree a deal to get 7046 legend Pedro who was amazing for Fulham and only recently left Craven Cottage. I'm a big fan of Silva and wasn't too interested in letting him go but Sunderland's offer was a very tempting one and after thinking about it, I decided to accept the offer.

Pedro's a great player and in incredible form at the moment and he's shown just how good he is in recent times. I'm very excited and eager to see Pedro and Neymar linking up together and I'm certain that these two can lead us to success. Jonathan Tah is an incredibly young talent, he's just 17 years old and one already one of the best young CB's in the world! I'm very excited to have a prospect of Tah's caliber at Chelsea and look forward to seeing him develop with us., Stipe Perica is another exciting young player who I look forward to see at Stamford Bridge and he's a quality addition to our youth squad."

Hancock Announced as New Chelsea Manager

Chelsea Unveil Hancock as New Manager

Yesterday, around 13:00 GMT, Chelsea announced that after the departure of club legend David Jones as manager, Aston Villa boss Hancock had taken over the reins at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea President Roman Abrahamovic, had initially offered the job to Tony Harman at Walsall but Tony had no interest in taking the job and Abrahamovic's next preferred candidate for the job was Hancock who decided to take the job and resign as Aston Villa manager after 95 games in charge at Villa Park.

Given below is Hancock's official statement after being confirmed as the new Chelsea manager:

"The reports are true, I've resigned from Aston Villa and have taken over the reins at Chelsea. It was a tough decision for me as I've had a great time at Villa and built a quality side with some great players but the team at Chelsea was too good for me to refuse and when Tony Harman who was offered the job initially announced he wouldn't be taking the job, I applied to take over the club and now here we are.

I'd like to think that I've left Aston Villa in a good state for the new manager (John James) as they've got some great players and have got some incredibly talented youth as well. The squad at VIlla is definitely capable of achieving promotion under the right management in my opinion, I got them close but couldn't get them promoted myself but hopefully the new manager has more luck than I did

Managing Chelsea who've got a great squad, in the Premier League and playing against the likes of Liverpool, Sunderland, Manchester United etc. is something I'm eagerly looking forward to. Chelsea, to date haven't been crowned the Premier League champions in 7046's 9 seasons so far and I'm looking to change that, we've certainly got the squad to win the title. The Premier League is just at another level to all the other leagues, the competition is insane and I'll get my first taste of it, hopefully I don't take too much time to adjust.  With 15 games left to go this season, I believe we still have a chance at winning the title as we're only 7 points off the top and that isn't all too much.

I'll be looking to put my stamp on the team and I've already made it clear that quite a few players who don't stand a chance at first-team football and are just increasing our wage bill will be allowed to leave and some players who could I don't really believe are good enough for Chelsea have also been put on the transfer list. I'm looking to keep the stars of the team, especially our defenders - Lahm, Ramos and Chiellini at the club and we're in contract negotiations with quite a few of our stars though no deal has been agreed yet. As for the rest of our team, we've got some great players but I'm a manager who's always willing to negotiate so if the right offer comes in, we could certainly sell some of our players."

BEST PERFORMANCE (Matchday 11)

BEST PERFORMANCE (Match Day 11)

Here we have the match of the the day from Division 2 for Turn 11. However, for this match day, instead of focusing on which encounter produced the 'best match', I will instead be focusing on which team put up the best performance on match day 11.

Newcastle United 6 - 1 Portsmouth

M. VUCINIC 30, 89

R. LEWANDOWSKI 38, 57

S. KAGAWA 51

S. NASRI 67

W. SNEIDJER 76

This turn's match of the day is without a doubt, Newcastle vs. Portsmouth - 1st vs 2nd in which Newcastle shocked everyone by thrashing the second placed team 6-1. It was indeed shocking to see Portsmouth who are second in the league get completely destroyed, albeit by the table-toppers. Newcastle were absolutely magnificent on Saturday night and they showed everyone in Division 2 just how good they are and exactly why they're at the very top of the table.

The match was in fact quite an even encounter with both teams getting numerous chances but Newcastle were finishing with ease and converted 66% of the shots they had on target whereas Portsmouth only managed to convert 10% of the shots they had on target. Newcastle lined up in 1 3-5-2 formation while Portsmouth lined up in 4-2-3-1 formation.

Newcastle Line-Up (3-5-2)

Diego Alves

  

C. Ansaldi - D. Criscito - T. Vermaelen

Y. Toure

M. Pjanic - W. Sneidjer - A. Herrera - S. Nasri

R. Lewandowski (c) - M. Vucinic

Portsmouth Line-Up (4-2-3-1)

David Ospina

L. Allan - M. Fernandes - M. Dawson (c) - G. Schennikov

J. Guilavogui - K P Boateng

E. Lamela - L. Baptistao - S. Kagawa

B. Gomis

The scoring was opened in the 30th minute by Newcastle, Mirko Vucinic scoring his 5th league goal this season. Shortly after the opener, Newcastle Captain Robert Lewandowski grabbed his side's second goal of the match and his 8th of the season. The Toon Army went into the half-time break with a 2-0 lead.

Portsmouth managed to bring themselves back into the game shortly after the half-time break as they pulled back a goal in the 51st minute when Shinji Kagawa found the back of the net. Just when Portsmouth thought they were back in it, Lewandowski scored his second of the match in the 57th minute, making it 3-1 to Newcastle. Ander Herrera spotted Lewandowski's run and played the ball to him and Lewandowski had a clear run at goal and he made no mistake from there. After that goal, Newcastle seized control of the match and it seemed almost impossible for them to miss.

Lewandowski celebrating after scoring his second goal of the match

Samir Nasri scored Newcastle's 4th goal of the match in the 67th minute as he received the ball from Miralem Pjanic and then took it into the box and fired home. Just 9 minutes after Nasri's goal, Loureiro Allan brought down Ander Herrera with a rash challenge and the ref awarded the free-kick to Newcastle. Wesley Snedijer stepped up to take it and the Dutchman went for power with the free-kick and hit it perfectly and the ball flew into the net leaving David Ospina helpless. The final goal of the match came in the 89th minute of play, Lewandowski was involved again as he put in a volleyed ball into the box which was controlled by Mirko Vucinic and the 30 year old fired it into the back of the net.

Newcastle Captain Robert Lewandowski was adjudged the Man of the Match for his performance as he scored 2 goals and assisted one goal as well. Lewandowski was outstanding and led from the front and was definitely the deserving Man of the Match.

It was a fine display of attacking football from Newcastle as they thrashed Portsmouth in what was expected to be a very close match. The win gave Newcastle a 3-point cushion at the top of the table. Manager Mark Preston must be delighted with how his team performed on such a big occasion and he will be hoping that his side can continue playing like they did on Saturday night. 

Aston Villa thrash star-studded MK Dons

MK Dons 1 - 5 Aston Villa

Aston Villa thrash star-studded MK Dons

Aston Villa finally performed to their potential on Wednesday night as they got their first win of the season after a disappointing start which saw them get a miserable 2 points out of a possible 9. Villa boss Hancock would have been desperate for his side to get a win against MK Dons as it was a bad start which cost Aston Villa promotion last season. 

It was without a doubt going to be a very tough match for Villa as MK Dons have a star-studded team with the likes of Theo Walcott, Pedro, Aaron Ramsey etc. The match was a must-watch as both teams are promotion contenders and each team has players who had played for the other until very recently. Jonny Evans was in the starting line up for the home side and Joao Moutinho started in center midfield for Villa.

Moutinho faced his former team for the first time since he moved to Villa at the end of the last season

The match was pretty even as both teams had a fair bit of possession and the chances were limited. However MK Dons weren't clinical and that turned out to be the difference-maker. Villa only had 5 shots but all 5 of those shots were converted into goals. Moutinho made his former club pay for letting him go as he scored the opener in the 14th minute, Kiessling providing the assist for the goal. The German then got his name on the score sheet just 8 minutes after assisting Moutinho, Kiessling then made it 3-0 just after the half-time break as he scored his second and Villa's 3rd goal of the match in the 46th minute. 

Jermain Defoe managed to pull one back for the home side in the 51st minute but if there were any doubts about the result, they were eliminated in the 64th minute when Kiessling completed his hat-trick. Paul Pogba, who's on loan from Sunderland for the season, scored the final goal of the match in the 73rd minute, making it 1-5 in favour of Villa. Kiessling got the Man of the Match award for his 3 goals and assist on the night.

Below is what Aston Villa manager Hancock said in the post-match press conference when asked about the result:

"I'm delighted with the win, who wouldn't be? Milton Keynes Dons are a top side with some great players and a great manager are definitely one of the title contenders this season. I was desperate for us to end our bad form and get a win. A bad start to the season can cost you, we had a horrible start to last season and even though we finished the season in incredible form, we only managed to finish in the play-offs. I hope we can maintain the form we showed tonight and get a string of wins together.

Now to the match. The scoreline is very deceiving, we won by a huge margin but we won because of clinical finishing. Look at the stats and they'll confirm what I say. We're lucky to have a world-class striker in Kiessling who's in very good form and he showed that tonight. He was incredible tonight, a hat-trick and an assist. It wasn't all about Kiessling though, Moutinho and Pogba both shined and were very impressive."

Aston Villa Start Preparations for Upcoming Season

Aston Villa have started preparing for the upcoming season with several new arrivals at the club. The biggest name to join Aston Villa is without a doubt, Portuguese International Joao Moutinho. The 26 year old Midfield Maestro joined Villa from fellow Division 2 Side Milton Keynes Dons in a deal which saw Marco Van Ginkel, Jonny Evans as well as an additional fee of  £6 million. Moutinho will partner up in center midfield with Spanish midfielder Mario Suarez who signed for Villa last season. With Moutinho and Mario Suarez in center midfield, Aston Villa certainly have a strong center midfield partnership and this partnership will without a doubt will play a big part for Villa in the upcoming season.

A center midfield partnership of Moutinho & Mario Suarez is certainly very formidable. It will certainly be interesting to see how the two of them will pair up with each other.

Apart from the Moutinho signing, Aston Villa have also managed to bring in 3 players on loan to ensure that injuries and suspensions don't hurt them during the season and to improve the quality of the squad. 20 year old starlet Paul Pogba as shown that he is without a doubt one of the best young midfielders today and manager Hancock is a known admirer of the Frenchman's abilities and has succeeded in bring Pogba to Villa Park on loan for the season. Pogba joins on loan from Division 1 side Sunderland and is expected to get a fair bit of playing time this season as he is the first back-up for the center-midfield position.

Manager Hancock has also added some much needed depth in defence by bringing in two quality defenders from Division 1 Giants Carlisle on loan for the season. Left-back Bastian Oczipka was the first of two defenders to join on loan from Carlisle. Without Oczipka Villa only have one player who can operate as a left-back so it was a much needed addition to the squad. Tomas Kalas has also been brought in on loan for his second consecutive season on loan at Villa Park. 

Aston Villa would have been in serious trouble if Hancock hadn't managed to bring in another left back but thankfully for Villa fans, he's brought in a quality left-back in Oczipka.

Reporters managed to get a statement out of Aston Villa manager Hancock and questioned him about his signings, this is what he said:

"I'm absolutely delighted with the 4 players we've managed to bring in even if 3 of them are just on loan for the season. The player I'm most happy to have signed is Moutinho, he's absolutely amazing. He's got loads of experience and is one of the best midfielders around and we now have a top quality center midfield partnership with Moutinho partnering Suarez. I've also managed to bring in Paul Pogba on loan who although young is an amazing player and he'll have a big part to play this season.

With Evans departing to MK Dons as part of the fee for Moutinho, I knew it was absolutely essential for us to get a couple of defenders on loan and I'm very happy that I've succeeded in doing so. A left-back was absolutely necessary as we only had Sakho who could operate as a LB and Oczipka is perfect for the position. He's a quality player and when I heard that he was available for loan I jumped at the opportunity to get a player like him in on loan for the season. I also wanted to get another defender on loan and Carlisle have been kind enough to let us have Kalas on loan for another season. With these 2  joining on loan I think we have enough defensive depth for the upcoming season.

I'd also like to express my thanks to both Raz and Ant at Sunderland and Carlisle respectively for the loans, these 3 players will all be vital to how we perform this season and will play a big role."

Aston Villa Finish Regular Season on a High

Aston Villa ended their regular season on a high last night as they emerged victorious against the Champions of Division 2 - Arsenal in what was a very close encounter at Villa Park.

The Villians were already assured of a play-off spot and the 2 automatic-promotion spots were already confirmed so there was really nothing to play though that was not what manager Hancock believed. Here is a part of his pre-match press conference when he answered this question:

"I certainly don't believe that there is nothing to play for tonight even though we are guaranteed of a play-off spot and it is impossible for us to get automatic promotion. Arsenal are the champions of Division 2 and were easily the best team in the Division as well as the strongest. They have a star-studded team with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Carles Puyol, Vincent Kompany, Dani Alves, David Villa and many more. They won the title easily and I want to show that we have what it takes to beat them. We came very close to beating them the first time around but only managed to get a 1-1 draw but I'm determined to get a win tonight which is we're not fielding a weak team in anticipation of the play-offs but in fact most of our first-team players will be starting tonight."

 Aston Villa lined up in a 5-4-1 formation:

Begovic

Jagielka - Sakho (C) - Zambrano

Kalas.........................................Vrsaljko

M. Suarez

S. Sam - A. Radu

Kruse

Kiessling

Hancock couldn't have hoped for a better start against the Division 2 Champions as German midfielder Sidney Sam opened the scoring for the Villians in just the 4th minute of play, Max Kruse crossing it into the box and Sam finishing. After the opener, the match was pretty even with both sides having some good opportunities to score but Villa had a slight upper hand which might have been due to the early goal which proved to be a great confidence booster. Hancock's men were unlucky though as the Gunners showed just why they had cruised to the Division 2 title, David Villa equalising just before the half-time break in the 44th minute.

After the half-time break, it only took Aston Villa as long as they'd taken for the first goal as they scored 4 minutes after the restart, the goal coming from the unlikeliest of sources, 17 year old defender Andrei Radu scoring in the 49th minute, Max Kruse with the assist again. Hancock's controversial decision to start Radu against Arsenal and if it wasn't enough to start a 17 year old, Hancock also chose to play the young defender in midfield but his choice paid off as Radu's goal turned out to be the goal that separated the two teams and it was his goal in the end that got Villa the 3 points.

Hancock had Max Kruse to thank for the win as the 25 year old who joined the club on loan at the beginning of the season from Huddersfield, set up both the goals. Kruse has had a very successful loan spell at Villa Park and fans are hoping that his loan spell will be extended and he will stay at the club for one more season.

Villa finish 3rd in the table with 67 points and have qualified for the Play-offs. Hancock's men face Burnley on the 11th of October in their play-off semifinal. The other semi-final will be between Bolton Wanderers and Walsall. Villa have had a great finish to the season with 9 wins and 2 draws from 11 matches and the Aston Villa faithful will be hoping that they continue their form and emerge victorious against Burnley tomorrow night.