Celebrating Earth Day With Recycling Success

Chelsea marks Earth Day by announcing we have achieved a 100 per cent rate for recycling waste at Stamford Bridge and the Cobham training ground.

By teaming up with Powerday, London's leading recycling company, even food and contaminated waste can now be processed at the North West London Materials Recycling Facility.

This now means that none of the waste from Stamford Bridge or Cobham goes to landfill.

New machinery at the site also means waste is turned into the fuel which will eventually be used to power the recycling plant itself, cutting down on electricity consumption.

The waste that is generated by the club, which includes drinks bottles, food and its packaging from matchdays as well as all office waste, is collected and taken to Powerday's Materials Recycling Facility only five miles from the stadium. The company is licensed to process 1.6 million tonnes a year there, that's eight per cent of London's waste.

Waste from the club is processed using cutting-edge technology including overband magnets, trommels, shredders, eddy currents and high-speed optical sorting equipment. At each stage in the process a different material is separated, ensuring as much as possible is suitable for recycling. Most of this material remains in the UK, going back into the manufacturing process. The remainder of the material is shredded into an even size to go as 'ready to use' fuel to generate energy from waste.

Chris Alexander, finance and operations director, welcomed the latest environmental initiative: 'We are delighted to be working with Powerday who share our view that we must do all we can to help reduce our impact on the environment. Our commitment to this is something we take extremely seriously.

'We have a number of initiatives to get our staff and fans aware of their own impact on the environment as well as installing energy efficient systems at both Stamford Bridge and Cobham, which is one of the most environmentally-friendly training grounds in the world.'

Powerday is a fellow member of the Green 500 and the London Mayor's Green Procurement Code. The company was a finalist for 'Recycling and Waste Management Business of the Year' in the 2009 National Recycling Awards.

Managing director of Powerday, Mick Crossan added: 'Powerday is proud of its association with Chelsea and commends the club's commitment to recycling. We are delighted to announce this new contract and look forward to continuing a relationship that benefits the club, Powerday and the environment.'

As a life-long Chelsea fan, Crossan is no stranger to the Bridge, and the club's Official Website couldn't resist asking Crossan his views on the season.

'Our season so far has been a real roller coaster and is going to remain a roller coaster until the last game against Wigan,' said Crossan. 'Chelsea are keeping us on the edge of our seats right until the very end.

'Ancelotti knows his stuff though; he's in control of his players and has Ray Wilkins at his side, who's Chelsea through-and-through.

'But it's all going to go down to the final game, which is fantastic for the neutrals but not so good for the fan's heart!'

Mikel Will Be Fit To Play For Nigeria At World Cup

The Nigeria Football Federation says midfielder John Obi Mikel should be fit for their World Cup warm-up match with Colombia in London on 30 May.

There had been doubts after the 23-year-old suffered ankle ligament damage at Tottenham last Saturday.

"Fortunately the damage does not limit his chances of playing at the World Cup as feared," NFF spokesman Ademola Olajire told BBC Sport.

"He will be able to take a major part in training sessions," he added.

"Mikel and Chelsea confirmed that he suffered an injury setback, but he should recover quicker than thought."

He will however miss the rest of the season for Chelsea as they battle for the English Premier League title and the FA Cup.

Meanwhile, the NFF have revealed that the only confirmed friendly match for the Super Eagles before the World Cup will be against Colombia on 30 May in London.

They are still trying to organise a game with Latvia on 23 May as well as one three days later against either Iceland or Honduras.

"But the team is expected to begin an official training camp London from 21 May," Olajire added.

Nigeria are drawn in a World Cup group alongside Greece, Argentina and South Korea.

Deco: Chelsea Formation Change Was Not Players' Decision

Chelsea midfielder Deco has refuted suggestions that the decision to alter the team's formation recently was taken by the players.

The Brazilian-born Portuguese international has insisted that manager Carlo Ancelotti makes all such key decisions at Stamford Bridge and the choice to switch back to a 4-3-3 after experimenting with a diamond 4-4-2 as well as 4-2-3-1 this season was the Italian's alone.

"We did not talk about it, it was the coach's decision," Deco told the Blues' official website.

"I think the formation is just a way to play, it matters more about the characteristics of each player.

"You can say now we are playing 4-3-3, the beginning of the season we played 4-4-2, and of course it is a different way to start the game but it is adapted to the players.

"At one moment it may be better to play one way because of the characteristics of the players and the moment of the team, and now we have three games to win and that is it."

Meanwhile, Deco is also confident that Chelsea have enough experience to fight off the challenge of Manchester United and win the Premier League title this season.

"First thing we need, we need to know that we are first," he added.

"The last three games will be difficult and of course there is pressure in our minds because we need to win our games if Man U win theirs.

"It is a war, and we need to be prepared but, if you said on the first day of the Premier League in August we would be one point clear with three games to go, two at home and one game away, we would all say okay, I'll sign!

"This is okay, it could be better if we won or Man U lost, okay, but it didn't happen, and our moment is this - we have three games, two at home and one away - we need to play well and be together."

And Ancelotti's men have their fate in their own hands now, according to the playmaker.

"No one can say they don't think about this, but we just need to think about the next game," he said.

"We can do the mathematics but it just depends on us, if we win our three games we win the league.

"We don't need to think about the games of Man U, they need to think about our games, we just need to win on Sunday against Stoke and after we will wait another week and try again."

Didier Drogba: I'm Really Struggling With My Fitness

Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has told Blues fans what they didn't want to hear - he is not in great shape.

The Ivorian has been struggling with a hernia problem for a number of weeks, culminating in playing in obvious discomfort in last weekend's 2-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

The Blues are now just one point ahead of Manchester United in the Premier League table with three games to go, and Drogba admits it will be a struggle for him to be at his best over the vital last few games of the season.

“The season's long and I've had quite a few niggles and I'm starting to feel it a bit,” the striker said, according to the Ealing Gazette.

“I had a hernia operation six years ago but it's playing up again and causing me discomfort.

“I think maybe adrenaline has got me through matches, but you can't continue for long like that."

It had been reported that the 32-year-old would need an operation to solve the problem, although Blues manager Carlo Ancelotti recently said that any decision would be left to the player himself.

But with the World Cup coming up in the summer, Drogba is unsure when he will be able to fit any treatment in.

“I will see if I need an operation, but something needs to be done because I can't continue like this next season," he said.

“There's no question of having anything done now though, with the World Cup on the way.”

Injury Blow For Chelsea As John Obi Mikel Set For Spell On The Sidelines

John Obi Mikel is the latest player to add to Chelsea's injury concerns, with the club fearing he could miss the remainder of the season.

The 22-year-old Nigerian limped off during the defeat to Tottenham Hotspur last Saturday, and a scan on Tuesday revealed ankle ligament damage. Consequently, the club stated he is "a doubt" for Sunday's game against Stoke City.

Earlier in the week, Goal.com UK revealed that the club feared Michael Essien might not play for the club before the end of the season, having been out of action since January with knee ligament problems.

"Contrary to this morning's stories stating otherwise, Michael will definitely not be involved against Stoke on Sunday. He is unlikely to play again this season," the club confirmed.

After the defeat to Spurs, Carlo Ancelotti's side are just one point ahead of Manchester United in the Premier League with three games left in the season.

UK Poll Results: Readers Urge Chelsea To Sign Sergio Aguero From Atletico Madrid

lsea should sign Sergio Aguero from Atletico Madrid during the summer to bolster their strike force for a renewed challenge on the European stage, according to readers of Goal.com UK.

Having exclusively revealed earlier that the Blues have made Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery and Atleti's Aguero their top transfer targets for a summer splurge, we asked you to voice your opinion as to who would be best suited to wear the Blue jersey next term.

And a majority 27.54 per cent of readers believe that Aguero would make the best summer signing, perhaps owing to his young age coupled with international experience that could prove invaluable for the Blues' quest for the Champions League crown.

Meanwhile, 15.28 per cent go for Alexandre Pato, possibly in the belief that the young Brazilian could gel well with the squad, having already worked with manager Carlo Ancelotti at Milan.

The Stamford Bridge outfit's midfield-heavy squad meant that Ribery amassed only 14.42 per cent of the votes, with the recent red card against Olympique Lyonnais probably playing some part in his score.

14.01 per cent believe that if Liverpool misses out on Champions League qualification this term, Fernando Torres could swap the Red of Merseyside for the Blue of west London during the transfer window.

Valencia hotshot David Villa comes next in line, polling 10.53 per cent of the votes, with the score perhaps reflecting the need for younger blood in the Chelsea squad.

Only a handful of readers (4.18 per cent) believe Robinho would fit hand-in-glove into the Stamford Bridge set-up, following his trouble-filled times at Manchester City that culminated in a loan deal with Santos.

And 5.55 per cent of readers believe that the Blues would be better off signing someone else, while an optimistic 8.44 per cent opine that no signings are required - believing that there will not be a slip between the Cup and the lip next season.

The Ultimate Nightmare Scenario For Roman

Imagine you are Roman Abramovich waking up this morning. Wouldn’t we all love to, but anyway. You open the papers and see the face of the manager you sacked three years ago and the headlines screaming at you. I will reproduce one for his benefit one presuming Roman is not a reader of The Sun. “SPECIAL WON”.

Imagine what it would be like if on the day after the Champions League Final he woke up to similar headlines about Jose’. After having seen Claudio Ranieri winning Italian Serie A (his Roma are at the top of the table one point ahead of Inter), Avram Grant the FA Cup and Fergie and that despicable sidekick of his Gary Neville holding the Premier League. It doesn’t even bear thinking about for us fans, let alone for an owner who has bankrolled the club with millions of pounds of his own money.

The bookies certainly don’t think that is a likely scenario. We are still favourites for The Premiership and the FA Cup, Barcelona, despite yesterday’s result are favourites for the Champions League and given Ranieri’s track record in twenty five years of coaching, Roma will probably contrive to fluff their lines.

Still, stranger things have been known to happen in football and I am sure that Abramovich sometimes stops to ponder over his managerial appointments since he bought Chelsea.

Scolari barely deserves a mention except to wonder who thought appointing him as Chelsea manager was a good idea. Prior to Chelsea he had never managed a club in Europe, he barely spoke the language and never even learned to pronounce the name of the club properly. He won the World Cup some would say. Who wouldn’t with Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and a whole of world class players in your squad?

Claudio Ranieri was a dead man walking the minute the ink was dry on Roman’s contract to buy Chelsea. The miracle was that he lasted a whole season. Events conspired against Abramovich when it came to sacking Ranieri. He either had to sack Ranieri within a few days of his takeover or else stick with him for the whole season as all the best managers would have found a club by then. We were in the title hunt till February, so that worked in Ranieri’s favour. A couple of months after we lost to Arsenal in February, effectively ruling us out the running for the league, we beat the Gooners in the Champions League quarter final but even that was not enough to save Ranieri’s bacon. The deal with Mourinho was done on the day Chelsea played against Monaco in the first leg of the semi final. Which, I am sure you all painfully remember, Ranieri blew big time.

Grant’s appointment remains one of the big mysteries in Chelsea’s history. Why Grant? No track record to speak of, the charisma of a cloistered nun and absolutely nothing to suggest that he would ever be accepted by the players after Jose’. Still the lucky bugger got a three year contract but only lasted one. Under Grant we got to the Champions League Final and challenged United for the Premier League till the very end. Who should get the credit for that is still under debate. My sources tell me that the team was run by JT, Ballack, Drogba and to a lesser extent Frank Lampard. Given Grant’s record before he joined Chelsea I tend to believe it.

As for Jose’ Mourinho you just don’t know where to start. Before Jose’ there were three certainties in football – Arsene Wenger complaining about Chelsea’s new found riches, United getting loads of injury time whenever they need a goal and Chris Kamara saying “incredible Jeff” at least twenty times every time he is on Gillette Soccer Saturday.

Since Jose’ came onto the scene another certainty can be added to that list. Jose’ Mourinho wins trophies. In the last six seasons he has been in business Jose’ has won the league five times with three different teams in three countries. He has won cups galore (Portughese, FA Cup and Coppa Italia, Champions League and UEFA Cup). Quite simply he is a serial winner.

The question is, what if, God forbid, we don’t win the league this season? Jose’ is fed up to the nose in Italy. Is it possible that the thoughts that cross the mind of each and every Chelsea fan whenever we see Jose’ on the telly occur to Roman.