New Season. New Manager. New Expectations.

 91 days. That's how long we have had to wait between our final match of the 12/13 campaign against Everton and our first match of the 13/14 campaign against Hull City.  In that time we have added Andre Schurlle, Marco Van Ginkel, and Mark Schwarzer to our first team squad.  We have also seen the return of Michael Essien and Romelu Lukaku from loan.  We have played exhibitions in the United States, Asia and again in the United States. Oh yeah, we also brought Jose Mourinho back. Even with all that activity, those 91 days felt like 91 months.

I have high expectations from our squad this year.  We have a great mix of experience and youth.  We have strong players in Essien, Lukaku and Ba.  Then there's our skillful players, Hazard, Mata and Oscar.  Then there's players like Cahill, Terry, and Ivanovic who will sacrifice themselves just to block a shot.  Our squad is very balanced and we have the perfect manager steering the ship.  Mourinho is great at managing squads and Chelsea's squad will allow him to pick the perfect lineup to matchup with any team we face.

Looking back, I have to give Rafa some credit.  He did a good job while he was here but once we signed Jose, I realized the biggest difference between the two.  Rafa came because he loves managing. Jose came because he loves Chelsea.

I have never felt so confident heading into a season and the main reason is Mourinho.  He's one of "us". We, the supporters, have his back and he has ours. The sky is the limit this year and I see silverware coming back to The Bridge.

There will definitely be ups and downs this year but I can promise one thing, the next 270+ days will go by a lot faster than the last 91.

Come On You Blues!!