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23 09 2007 The referee 2 Chelsea 0
Now some of the dust has settled and I still am reeling from the departure of the Special One.
If media reports are to be believed, then what had been going on behind Jose’s back while he was Chelsea manager
was far worse than first imagined. According to the ‘papers, Jose expressly asked for us to sign Eto’o and we received
Shevchenko instead. He wanted to sign Richards for £5 mio and instead received Boulahrouz for £7 mio. Apparently
Roman surrounds himself with agents who are only interested in getting his money from the proceeds of transfers. This
shows one of the limits of being a billionaire oligarch – who will ever tell you that you are wrong?
I would not be surprised if the sale of Robben was forced upon Jose so that he only then would have had the cash to
buy new players. The signing of Shevchenko probably didn’t help either. If a player is unhappy (or a prima donna as
was the case with Gallas and Robben), then if you know that the manager is not in control you have a better opportunity
to moan and cry wolf knowing that there are some elements in the same business who would sympathise with your
pathetic circumstances. In any case, a brilliant piece of political skill from those behind the scenes at Chelsea who
wanted to drive out Jose – perhaps something you would find under a Communist regime? At least Jose will not have to
live the rest of his life in a gulag.
Then I hear that JT allegedly came on the pitch late to warm up for the Rosenborg game as a sign of protest that Jose
had gone to the medical room to ask if he was holding any injury that had given him such an average start to the
season! If true, then an opinion of such a highly regarded Chelsea player would never fall so much. On top of this, his
alleged ridiculous wants in his playing contract and his philandering off the pitch would certainly made him a hard player
to forgive having already erred once with “that” nightclub incident. JT – please tell me it isn’t true!
The applause from Roman when Sheva was substituted yesterday made me sick. Having saved Chelsea, he now
believes he is a footballing expert meddling in team affairs and employing a puppet who may buy players you would list
in a fantasy football team: but then you look at how Real Madrid faired with big name signings and see how many
trophies they have won in the last 5 years!
There was such an air of pessimism before the game that I was surprised at how well Chelsea played. When I say, “well”,
I mean that Chelsea were able to stray into the opposition half and look dangerous despite playing only one striker up
front. Having said that, Ben Haim looked like this was his first ever football game and John Terry was woefully inept to
mark Tevez for his goal.
I felt sorry for Avram yesterday. He is in a no-win situation. Chelsea fans already detest him, and then in his first game
his team loses to two poor refereeing decisions to a very average United side. Then Saha carried out the most
ridiculous dive I have ever seen to earn the Reds a penalty (which I am sure Sky will replay all week) and the phrase,
“when it rains, it pours” came to mind.
The worst thing about the whole debacle is that not only have we probably cost ourselves the chance of winning any cup
this season, we have also shot our chances of being a dominating force in English football for at least the next decade
now that Mourinho is not at the helm.
We are waiting for the 6 million fans Peter Kenyon has stated we have in England to chip in £167 each so we can buy
the club back off Roman, and then bring Jose back. The day that happens, Liverpool will have won the league….
If media reports are to be believed, then what had been going on behind Jose’s back while he was Chelsea manager
was far worse than first imagined. According to the ‘papers, Jose expressly asked for us to sign Eto’o and we received
Shevchenko instead. He wanted to sign Richards for £5 mio and instead received Boulahrouz for £7 mio. Apparently
Roman surrounds himself with agents who are only interested in getting his money from the proceeds of transfers. This
shows one of the limits of being a billionaire oligarch – who will ever tell you that you are wrong?
I would not be surprised if the sale of Robben was forced upon Jose so that he only then would have had the cash to
buy new players. The signing of Shevchenko probably didn’t help either. If a player is unhappy (or a prima donna as
was the case with Gallas and Robben), then if you know that the manager is not in control you have a better opportunity
to moan and cry wolf knowing that there are some elements in the same business who would sympathise with your
pathetic circumstances. In any case, a brilliant piece of political skill from those behind the scenes at Chelsea who
wanted to drive out Jose – perhaps something you would find under a Communist regime? At least Jose will not have to
live the rest of his life in a gulag.
Then I hear that JT allegedly came on the pitch late to warm up for the Rosenborg game as a sign of protest that Jose
had gone to the medical room to ask if he was holding any injury that had given him such an average start to the
season! If true, then an opinion of such a highly regarded Chelsea player would never fall so much. On top of this, his
alleged ridiculous wants in his playing contract and his philandering off the pitch would certainly made him a hard player
to forgive having already erred once with “that” nightclub incident. JT – please tell me it isn’t true!
The applause from Roman when Sheva was substituted yesterday made me sick. Having saved Chelsea, he now
believes he is a footballing expert meddling in team affairs and employing a puppet who may buy players you would list
in a fantasy football team: but then you look at how Real Madrid faired with big name signings and see how many
trophies they have won in the last 5 years!
There was such an air of pessimism before the game that I was surprised at how well Chelsea played. When I say, “well”,
I mean that Chelsea were able to stray into the opposition half and look dangerous despite playing only one striker up
front. Having said that, Ben Haim looked like this was his first ever football game and John Terry was woefully inept to
mark Tevez for his goal.
I felt sorry for Avram yesterday. He is in a no-win situation. Chelsea fans already detest him, and then in his first game
his team loses to two poor refereeing decisions to a very average United side. Then Saha carried out the most
ridiculous dive I have ever seen to earn the Reds a penalty (which I am sure Sky will replay all week) and the phrase,
“when it rains, it pours” came to mind.
The worst thing about the whole debacle is that not only have we probably cost ourselves the chance of winning any cup
this season, we have also shot our chances of being a dominating force in English football for at least the next decade
now that Mourinho is not at the helm.
We are waiting for the 6 million fans Peter Kenyon has stated we have in England to chip in £167 each so we can buy
the club back off Roman, and then bring Jose back. The day that happens, Liverpool will have won the league….