1) Chelsea, Arsenal or Man Yoo- which would you rather see win the Premiership?
"Chelsea. Partly just for a change to make the division more competitive and
partly becuase it will be fun seeing how the other clubs react to Chelsea's
sheer spending power."
2) How has your opinion of Chelsea changed since the Russian Revolution (The Roman Abramovich one, not the real one!)??
"Well, there's a lot less bloodshed in this one, just battered opponents. I
haven't really changed my opinion of Chelsea a great deal despite the
changes. Ranieri was already implementing many of the attitudes we see now
during last season. Although he had done very well with the players he had
the previous year, there's no doubt that Chelsea would have struggled to
make a huge impact on the title chase without the influx of cash. But I
wouldn't have ruled it out entirely. He's a top manager and he has taken a
number of new players and got them to gel together extremely quickly. I
wouldn't mind at all seeing Chelsea win the championship based on Ranieri
alone."
3) What sort of reception is Wayne Bridge likely to get from Saints fans?
"A pretty decent one. He was a great player for us and a local lad. He would
have been out of his mind not to go to Chelsea. We got a very good deal for
him, and the Saints were very happy to let him go for that kind of money. We
also got Le Saux in return and he's just superb. I've no doubt that there
will be a few abusive comments thrown, but then every club has it's stupid
fans."
4) What do you think the score/result will be tomorrow?
"We'll be tough to break down, but we will also struggle to create up front.
There's no doubt who the better team are, so we can only hope to work hard
to make the most of the few chances we will get."
5) Which player should us Chelsea fans look out for?
"Kevin Phillips. I say that every week though and I'm still waiting for the
goals."
6) Which player are you most worried about facing tomorrow?
"Depending on which team comes out, all of them! Chelsea have so many
creative outlets that focusing on one threat will just allow another more
space."
7) Any injury worries or team news that we should know about?
"We'll be without Michael Svensson which is a big blow. That could well mean
that we're unable to cope effectively with the Chelsea attack. The other
major loss is Matt Oakley who's out for the season. He keeps our side
ticking along, and he'll be a big miss for us. Without those two, I'm not
all that confident of getting much from the game."
8) And finally do you think Chelsea's big spending is a good thing for the English game, or a bad thing??
"All clubs try to buy the Premiership by bringing in as much talent as they
possibly can. I don't view Chelsea any differently from say Manchester
United making their huge signings. Any criticism levelled at them over that
is down to envy. Many of the players who have come in are English and the
likes of Terry and Lampard are still very important members of the side. It
can only be good for the likes of Johnson and Bridge to play with such
talented players to get them up to the same level. As Chelsea continue to do
well in Europe, which is also good for English football, that will only make
these players better for their national teams too.
So with increased competition in the Premiership, the club nurturing several
top English players, the chance of Chelsea picking up some European
silverware and having players in the national side who have top European
experience, I think that it has been a good thing.
It's now up to the other clubs to compete as much as they can. No doubt,
their fans are amongst the biggest moaners regarding Chelsea because they
stand to lose more. As far as Southampton are concerned, it's business as
usual."