How To Win Trophies and Influence People the Chelsea Way
No-one likes us but we don’t care, right? In fact we enjoy our role as football’s Anti-Christ so much, we don’t even like ourselves sometimes.
A spot of self-loathing we can deal with, but despite their relative lack of importance inane ramblings by the likes of Lawton and Hattenstone do tend to grate as they dictate the agenda in the short term. The media perception of the club is something that often creates a false impression, given that many commentators and pundits rarely stray from the realms of hackneyed cliché and the simplistic view of the herd.
The arrival of Mourinho has given journalists both plenty of material and the opportunity to renew the stock buzzwords and phrases they use to describe Chelsea. This helps form an image of the club in the collective consciousness over the course of time which is trotted out irrespective of what happens on (or off) the pitch. Our image (if you can call it that) has simply been remodeled given our change in circumstances and recent success.
There have been embarrassing episodes of course, from Mourinho’s ‘moments’ to the Ashley Cole affair but we are hardly ground-breaking in this respect. Ferguson and Wenger have frequently been less than gracious in defeat and tapping-up is hardly a new pastime, but our elevated position leaves us ripe for criticism. Whether we play stunning football or otherwise is almost irrelevant given the headline-generating soap opera that currently follows Chelsea.
The modern game is all about image and perception. Tuesday night’s Champions League game between AC Milan and Barcelona was an excellent case in point of how a club’s standing is shaped in the eyes of the world. A feverishly anticipated contest between two European greats and as you would expect the vernacular used by Messrs. Tyldesley and Pleat was suitably reverent given the historic and near-mythical nature of those involved.
“Some have suggested that this is the final” remarked Tyldesley in his typically over-excited tones.
But they’d be talking shit, wouldn’t they Clive? I hoped the ITV man would suggest as much, but as is often the case when he speaks I was disappointed. Both Arsenal and Villareal have earned their semi-final spots as the Rossoneri and Rijkaard’s men had, but their perceived cachet amongst dedicated non-thinkers like Tyldesley is lower than that of the Milanese and Catalan giants.
Why? Is here the place for a timely reminder that the game is about eleven against eleven; that all the history, pedigree, wealth and reputation in the world count for absolutely squat on the other side of the touchline?
Reputation – now there’s a word. AC Milan’s impressive (and rather expensively acquired) Big Cup history is almost without equal, but Barcelona? Their European pedigree is on a par with that of Aston Villa, but still a little way short of Nottingham Forest. Yet they are ‘legends’ with a prestige that requires the use of hushed tones and endless superlatives.
And it doesn’t stop there. Brilliant player he may be, but listening to how Ronaldinho is described by a star-struck pundit can be a hilarious distraction. He doesn’t go past people; he skips, dances and pirouettes with the grace of a ballet dancer. He never just plays a pass, he dazzles his marker with footwork that defies the laws of physics and then delivers an inch-perfect ball with sublime skill and great vision. And he always does it with a smile on his face. Joga Bonito indeed.
That for the best part of an hour the Brazilian was firmly packed into the back pocket of Jaap Stam, 57, almost went unnoticed; the Dutchman could probably feel those unfeasibly huge teeth embedded into his arse. Tyldesley did eventually bring himself to comment on this terrible state of affairs:
“David, would it be remiss of me to suggest that Ronaldinho, dare I say it – hasn’t had the best of games tonight?”
The question had a kind of wary English politeness that might have been appropriate had the suggestion been a visit to Pleat HQ to administer a length of prime Tyldesley pork sword to Mrs. Pleat whilst her husband was out driving his car slowly around Kings Cross.
Yes, we know the samba superstar is a twenty-four carat genius and plays for a team fashioned by God himself (you point it out every four seconds), but you won’t go to Hell if you dare to suggest that he occasionally has a bit of a ‘mare. However as truly world-class players often do, Ronaldinho raised his game and created Guily’s crucial away goal; a very good pass it was too. But it wasn’t worth the several minutes of verbal masturbation and giddy breathlessness afforded it by the ITV twosome, both terminally guilty of the Sky disease of desperately talking everything up to be some sort of epic Ali v. Foreman type contest. Of course, this was AC Milan and Barcelona so the occasion demanded it whether the game was good, bad or indifferent.
Should Arsenal successfully defend their slender first leg lead as though their lives depended on it for ninety minutes in Spain, will it be reported as a display of ever-so-slightly cynical percentage football that paid dividends? Or a textbook example of supreme tactical intelligence, the emergence of a brilliant young defensive unit and a touch of counter-attacking genius? I think we all know the answer to that.
The media have formed their opinions about ‘new’ Chelsea and our outspoken boss; no conspiracy, no hidden agenda – for whatever reason, most of the Fourth Estate simply aren’t worshipping at the Blue altar. As Blingo suggested, such is the personality and presence of Mourinho (of whom I would have been producing voodoo dolls long ago were he managing another Premiership side) that for many people he is Chelsea. It is because of this his transgressions from the accepted norm are projected onto the club; the view of the Blues is set in stone and is unlikely to change until he departs for pastures new.
Despite our success, we as Chelsea fans suffer from the occasional moment of split personality given our sudden shift from second tier to top table. In the space of the average fan’s lifetime, our emotional scale has encompassed the despair of relegation, the joy of a Premiership title and the disappointment of not making a Champions League final by the narrowest of margins. Schizophrenic is a word that you might use. But no matter how low the lows in the bad old days, there was always a small (but usually wildly fanciful) notion that somehow, somewhere we had the potential to be the best team in the land.
Well now we are – and we still want more. Winning isn’t enough – we have to win in style, given our potential and the resources available.
Hereby hangs the problem of the near-obsessive love we bestow upon our chosen team; give a football fan the world (relatively speaking) and he’ll probably moan that the moon and stars haven’t come as part of the package. To those outside this particular bubble of insanity it seems irrational, but the man with the gripe has every right to express it – after all, since when has supporting a football team had anything to do with rational thought?
It isn’t a unique point of view and it pervades through the game at all levels. A Norwich supporting friend and season ticket holder recently remarked upon their largely forgettable mid-table season in the Championship. During their 3-2 win over QPR at the weekend, a section of the home fans applauded both of QPR’s goals, chanted constantly that they wanted Nigel Worthington served in one of Delia’s pies and generally expressed their displeasure at the current situation.
But as a seasoned football man, my friend observed that most of the boo-boys simply hold the unshakable belief that Norwich are a Premiership side that have always played like Ajax in the 1970’s. Are they insane, I hear you cry? Probably no more than the rest of us blindly devoted fools are. Talk to a less than balanced Tottenham fan (they aren’t too hard to find) and you’ll hear about their divine right to a place at the game’s top table as a big club, with ‘the Tottenham way’ of brilliant attacking football being a pre-requisite at the Lane. The fact that their only success in recent years came under the dour, defensive stewardship of George Graham has been conveniently forgotten. Which is probably how to look at things as a fan; in fifty years time it’ll be a trophy on the record books and the details surrounding its acquisition will be consigned to history. Lawton and Hattenstone, take note.
Were the revitalised Accrington Stanley to attract the attention of a billionaire who decided to bankroll them towards a Premiership title in 2014, would all of their fans be completely happy? Not in a million years they wouldn’t; for someone, something wouldn’t be right. If Mourinho threw caution to the wind with an all-out attacking team that scored hatfuls in style but regularly conceded three or four, there would be those who would moan about our defence. You can’t please all of the people all of the time.
So where next for Chelsea? How do we create ourselves a legacy, possibly even winning over a few stony critical hearts in the process?
Keep winning. Attractive football and the media-friendly eccentricity of Ranieri might win you friends but it is trophies and success that will attract a new generation of fans and the best players; people follow success – always have, always will.
Winning is what Mourinho has been employed to do. It isn’t pretty at times but the weight of expectation and Abramovich’s investment dictate that we have to win. Five year gap between titles? Not good enough. This overriding need almost certainly played a part in Jose’s appointment as the type of pragmatic and relentless winning that he prescribes are what Abramovich’s Chelsea demand. Perfect bedfellows, you could say.
Possibly not the old-fashioned sentimental approach to football that we might have liked, but in the G14 era a polite knock on the door asking to join the elite won’t be heard above the din of Berlusconi’s billions and Tyldesley spouting nonsense about Ronaldinho and Barcelona. Our dreams of brilliant free-flowing football week in, week out will hopefully be realised one day, but at present set against the realities of the balance sheet and Kenyon’s masterplan it is winning by whatever means that counts. The current side is nearing messianic status in our eyes, but the harsh reality is that to Chelsea Global Football Limited they are building blocks for the future and assets that can be bought and sold in a few phone calls.
Does this relentless need for victory above all else bother me? Not particularly – it is the way things have always been, albeit with far higher stakes, but I can understand that the culture and some of the football it has arguably created don’t sit well with everyone. The trophies may have arrived, but are we paying the price for wanting to reach the head of the queue in record time?
Great sides are built on a simple basis; first, stop them losing. Second, turn them into winners by all means necessary and instill it as a mindset that runs throughout the club – then and only then do you worry about winning with style. We have a side that is well into the second stage of that process; whether stage three will come under Mourinho is another matter, but I’d rather we took our time establishing a solid foundation for the future first.
For all the changes at Chelsea, sitting in the MHU things look the same as they ever were. Sometimes I’m entertained, sometimes I’m frustrated and sometimes I’m driven to the edge of screaming insanity. Sometimes I’m blown away by Mourinho’s genius. Sometimes I’m convinced my mother could do a better job. Sometimes it’s like watching Pelé’s Brazil in the sunshine and sometimes it’s sitting in the freezing cold watching eleven blokes that have been possessed by the spirit of Winston Bogarde on an off day (this is a mercifully infrequent occurrence these days).
This will always be the case but I don’t doubt that I shall continue to worship the Blues no matter how delighted or disgusted I am with the manager or our style of play, how we are viewed by the world or how many trophies we have or haven’t won.
After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder isn’t it?
- Posted at 01:51 PM · Permalink · Print · 2870 views · Last indexed by Google on the 11th May 2008
- Tags: Champions League, Jonathan Dyer, Jose Mourinho, Manager, Miscellaneous, Roman Abramovich
Nice written.
Myself I feel that inspite of everyone outside CFC hating Mourinho, they at the same time give him the credit (all the creidt?) of making the difference of CFC beiing mediocrite or the Champions.. Also most of the fans seem to worship the special One. I don’t think this is a correct view of the facts.
I’m convinced that Ranieri would have given us similar results if he had been allowed to continue his work.
Ranieri stated in public tha he wantet talented, young ENGLISH players. He followed up by buying some of best in the country. I have always been a worshipper of the English style of playing football (I’m a Norwegian) - and so is he!!!
C FC ended up as runners up in his last season…. It was the same season that Arsenal went trhough unbeaten- with some of the most beautiful football played in Great Britain. Was that a bad achievement? With so many new players?
One should also be aware of that the most important players in JM’s campaign have always been - and will for a good time be - the players that Ranieri got to the club or liftet up from own ranks.
We would have won last year and this year with Rainieri at the steerwheel as well. and we would have gotten far more supportes all over Europe because of his dignified behaviour, compare to our current gaffer… and that means loss of hard cash, just ask mr. Kenyon.
I have to disagree with Reppenskara, Ranieri’s record since leaving Chelsea speaks for itself. He was a nice man, and the players liked him, but he was an order of magnitude below the ability of Mourinho.
The stories of how much the the players “Liked” Ranieri should have told you that he was clearly not managing them well. Being a manager is not a popularity contest, it’s about getting the best from the resources you manage, and Mourinho is certainly doing a much better job of that than Claudio ever did.
Seconded there Will.
Nice bloke was Claudio, had a decent track record of building teams but he never quite managed to top it off with trophies. His unforgettable reaction to the Wayne Bridge goal at Highbury makes him a legend in my book, but his team selection and tactics in the subsequent semi-final against Monaco said everything you need to know about him in terms of his footballing acumen.
Allegedly he’s eyeing the Villa job. Poor bastards!
Also, at the risk of losing my hard fought Yes Man status, can I just point out that Rainieri only became ‘media friendly’ when it was clear we were about to sack him. Until then, he had been the subject of a particularly vile and blatantly racist prolonged media campaign from the moment he was appointed. The press’s duplicitousness in this respect was particularly marked.
Very true - you do tend to forget that there was a great deal of “Aah, look at the Eyetie dope who can’t speaka-da-lingo” coverage of Claudio in his earlier days.
Very well…
I do remember, too.. a quarter final against Barca… and JM at the steerwheel.. I was SO impressed…
What I’m trying to say: Everyone makes a mistake now and then (except for The Chosen One).
Why don’t you ask yourselves: What players havs JM got in to the squad that have made a significant role?
why don’t you ask yourselves: do oru image as Anti Christ have any negative implications? In England? In Norway -and the rest of Europe?
In Norway winning teams in England always create huge numbers of children adoring the new champs.. And they will continue to be true supportes of that team till their deaths. Therfore we have many middleaged people supporting ManU, and a bit elder people lovin Liverpool, and even older people loves Leeds.
But today, I don’t see children with CFCshirts in Noway. I do hope for the better in the future.
Ranieri is gone, and JM is here. I have to fix that!!!!. So I just hope for a more decent behaviour from The Great Ego, and a bit more English style on the pitch!
Absolute nail on the head regarding Ranieri. It wasn’t until Roman’s millions hoved into view and the threat of Claudio’s imminent demise that he went from press laughing stock to everybody’s favourite manager.
Off on a slight tangent, I thought Simon bloody Hattenstone’s article was the most pointless pile of crap I’ve read in a long while. Yes, he sat on a train and listened to some Chelsea fans chanting - yes, you’ve heard right chanting - who would have thought it.
By coincidence, a few days earlier I also sat on a train accompanied by large numbers of gooners. I was going home from work, they were off to the Portsmouth game. They were beered up and by the end of the journey were singing exactly the same things about Spurs’ racial heritage.
I’m thinking of emailing him with a couple of suggestions for future articles. You know the sort of thing….
“World Exclusive: Sun is coming up tomorrow”
or maybe
“Shock, Horror! Pope turns out to be catholic”
I agree with you Jonathan about the 3 phases we have to go through, but surely It’s possible to make the journey with Mourinho being less offensive?
The only thing that bothers me about the current Chelsea is Mourinho’s behaviour, I’m not unhappy with the team, I’d just like him to have more style.
Also he needs to improve the discipline of the team. Drogba got booed by the home fans against Man City and I joined in; his diving makes me sick. Against West Ham he was brilliant and got a standing ovation and I joined in. This just goes to prove that you can win and behave yourself, a lesson that Mourinho could learn.
Jose does have his moments Mark, I’d agree but a lot of them get blown out of all proportion. And I actually quite enjoy it when he doesn’t conform; why should he shake Bryan Robson’s hand after the aggressive old soak spent the best part of 90 minutes abusing him? I’m damned sure I wouldn’t, whether it was breaking sporting protocol or not.
Can’t be doing with booing our own players though, whatever they’ve done. I’ve seen awful lot worse then Drogba get far less stick from the fans too.
Andy - I’ve emailed Hattenstone about this piece. There’s something very fishy about a self-confessed Chelsea-hating Englishman, an African Arsenal fan and an Irishman all sharing a carriage with a handful of stereotypical beer monsters who subsequently sing songs we’ve not heard at the Bridge for years, which is presumably why they get the words wrong. You couldn’t make it up? Well, I think he did.
Will let you know if there’s a response.
Mark - Drogba was also brilliant in the Man City game. Well done for booing him. Very clever. As for Mourinho –Â learn to appreciate what we’ve got before it’s gone for ever.
Mark–booing Drogba was my idea in the first place…but well done to you and the other valuable booers. his uncle confirmed that’s just what we need to chase him across the channel…
i don’t think the kind of monkey chants Haterstone mentions are justified though…only boo him for his wastefulness
The press in this country will without us recognising it start to side with us!!!
I mean look at the likes of Gazza,Sven,Beckham etc
They build them up ,
pull them down and eventually
we accept them,
they find a acceptable place in our conscience.
As I recall it you advocated booing every player who didn’t pass to Crespo Henry. But be sure to let us know when you have another genius idea with which to motivate the team.
Sending them hate mail perhaps?
Henry,
Do you honestly believe that the section of the Bridge crowd who chose to partake in the disgraceful booing of Drogba read your inane ramblings on this blog and thought, “You know what? That Henry bloke is right - let’s boo Drogba, see if we can drive him from the club.”? You really are an imbecile of the highest order.
Jonathan,
as a fan you don’t get ways to communicate with players other than cheering and booing…sometimes booing works fine…it could be that Drobga never realised that diving and trying to get penalties and free kicks all the time was spoiling his game. now he stays on his feet and there’s a bit of final ball from him. u probably realise in futute Drogba won’t be about gettng a dicision in his favour but try to play.
…and really if Drogba has improved lately, its up to the boos he got, now he knows better to concentrate on football. i have seen teams(fans) like brazil booing players they thought were not good enough(Emmerson), even Deschamps was booed…
…besides each fan knows what his season ticket is worth…
Mark, you state “Drogba got booed by the home fans against Man City and I joined in; his diving makes me sick”.
Well sorry mate but I would never boo anyone wearing a Chelsea shirt. At worst Drogs thinks it’s normal part of the game to exaggerate, at best he is merely stuck in a habitual behavioural pattern accepted elsewhere. Too boo your own players is just not on in my book for whatever reason. As for Claudio, well I’m on record as being critical of his footballing tactical capability. I’ve no doubt about his integrity and charm, but as a coach… Nah! He will always be a man who can do a job on a team with no money, but that job is merely plastering over cracks and stopping the foundations from crumbling to keep the building barely standing, but given money he couldn’t produce the goods.
As for Reppenskara’s point about Ranieri’s penchant for young English players, examine the quality of what came through under him. JT, granted but do you really deny he has elevated his level since JM took over? Ditto Frank? Clownio also spotted Carlton Cole and does anyone really think he’s going to be a world class striker? Peter Crouch with muscles is all I can see. Finally look at the evidence of how Clownio treated Joe Cole. Now JM might be harsh on Joe Cole, sometimes too harsh in my view… I wish he’d encourage Joe to be a bit more greedy and flash, but there is no doubt that Joe Cole is 10 times the player he ever was at West Ham and specifically under Clownio. Remember just how Joe must have felt when Clownio brings on Juan StrollRoundThePark Veron against Monaco. I was one of those thousands of Chelsea fans holding their heads in disbelief at such an obviously wrong decision. I can still see Joe’s face and hear his thoughts… “Just how shit does everyone else have to be before I get a game?”
It’s a great article Jonathan which sums up mostly how I feel about the club and JM but I have to say I find the semi-mutinous views of some a tad disturbing. It’s almost as if some people preferred the Bates Motel era of crass insensitive and embarassing press statements (barely weeks after MH died can you remember how the vile old goat decried his memory and humiliated his widow?), knee jerk manager sacking (Ruud and Luca) and near club death via bordering bankruptcy, ironically the very situation he saved us from in the 70’s. Well, thanks very much but I’ll take the immorally gained wealth, blatant marketing ploy and arrogant irascibility of the Roman/Kenyon/Mourinho Chelsea any day. It’ll take far more than success and funtional efficiency to remove the “spirit” of Chelsea from within me.
In that case Henry I’ve got an idea that might help improve the quality of the utter dross you post on here.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Spot on with you views once again Jonathan. As far as Raneiri goes he was punching well above his weight at Chelsea, nice bloke, but not a winner, and only winning the Spanish Cup is hardly a CV clincher for getting a job at Chelsea.
And as for booing Chelsea players it’s something I’ve never done or will do. So any so called Chelsea fans that advocates it, or does it…. should be f*cking ashamed of themselves.
Confession time: I once booed Peter Nicholas (Wimbledon (A), 1990). But I was young and impressionable and he was old and crap. However, I am proud that I didn’t join in the infamous booing of Beasant after the Norwich debacle in 92(?), but it was very tempting.
Don’t you have a confession yourself Jonathan? Your main ‘yes boys’ are coming out now…this might be a good chance for yours…my skunk has just got in so i’ll be unreachable(stoned) for a while…peace
Other than an occasionally unhealthy penchant for Stella Artois Henry, I have nothing to confess - never have booed a Chelsea player, never will.
Peace indeed. Don’t hurry back now…
Or, to put it another way, peace off.
I agree on the booing front, I would never openly boo any of our players, its a disgrace…. saying that I do remember getting very animated by Jokanovic who very neatly encapsulated all Ranieris failings. A player who Ranieri had worked with and new inside out was brought to the club on the bosses say so. Ranieri had already been in charge at the bridge for 2 seasons and had a good idea of the pace and type of football played in the premiership, yet he signs a player so patently unsuited to the English game he couldn’t have looked more out of his depth if he’d worn a mask and snorkel every time he took to the pitch. Towards the end of Jokanovic’s spell at the club I actually started to feel pity for him as in the Italian league he would probably have looked like a quality player.
Ranieri was a likeable muppet - a Fuzzy Bear type characteur. Lets not forget that as soon as Bates knew he was on his way out he handed Ranieri a cast iron 5 year contract. Some may call this benevolance, I’m pretty sure it was a 2 fingered salute by Bates to the future owners.
Now that the dust has settled on the Bates era, I’d be very interested to hear the views of fellow contributers on “the clubs saviour” - personally I reckon he was a self promoting autocratic mostly incompetant To****r.
Peter H - I think you’ll see from my comments on Bates that I agree!
Well clearly I’m out of touch, we must cheer our players no matter what their antics, showing Nazi like fanatic loyalty to our leaders. Obviously I’m from the old school, naively clinging on to the notion that it does matter how you win. Despite what you might think I’m a devoted blue and have been for 40 years. Still onwards and upwards; incidentally can anyone recommend the best car park for getting out easily from Old Trafford?
You had to mention Wimbledon away in 1990, didn’t you. I’d successfully repressed those memories for years.
Now I’ll have to go and have a good lie down.
Right on man, good article! I don’t see this issue, i don’t care that the press don’t like Chelsea or Mourinho. And a lot of it boils down to the papers you read as well, cos some of them aren’t fit for wrapping fish. You wouldn’t listen to their views on the events in Nepal, or plan your picnic around their weather report but when their sports hack has a dig at Chelsea people suddenly construct comebacks as he were actually making a well reasoned point and backing it up with legitimate examples. Other papers are more reasonable, the Telegrpah even named Drogba their man of the match for the last three games on the bounce weeks after his overblown diving almost admission.
Mourinho is a total legend and will go down in history as such, hopefully with Chelsea in tow. His results and trophies alone already guarantee that. And for all his not shaking hands and huffing about, it’s not like he kicked a boot in the England captain’s face or had such a row with a star player and club captain that his contract was terminated mid-season! As i see it, The Blues owned this season from start to finish, with a small blip followed by a stunning resurgence at the end, and so in the lack of any sort of compeition from the regular heavyweights jobsworth journos have hyped story after story to unsettle and dislodge the Chelsea regime. It’s not all bad either, i mean, for all the public and media dislike of the team, the players themselves such as Makelele, Lamps, JT, Gallas, Joe Cole and Cech have still cme in for an enormous amount of praise this season and last.
Anyway, i ramble on, but i ignore the press unless its positive, cos Chelsea is a work in progress that is still taking home the silverware and that speaks volumes to the doubters.
in response to other comments above, I think Claudio made some very good signings and was a lovely guy, but i’m glad he’s not in charge anymore, his tactics sure were crazy :) i think he’d make a good assistant manager, chat to the press and do a bit of transfer scouting, cos Cech and Robben were two inspired parting gifts to his sucessor!
And as for booing Drogba, i think it’s f*cking shameful, i wouldnt boo a player in that shirt until the moment he took it off and set it on fire. It’d be a real shame if a player who seems to be finding his premiership feet at last ( no thanks to you “fans” who booed him at his home stadium) is driven out of the club by a bunch of dullard louts.
I loved it Jonathan. Its a funny yet superbly written article. We share the same views on this issue. Cheers man.
Its very much a humiliation to know that there are some fans who encourage booing their own players. I’d bet the media-hating-Chelsea would be rubbing their hands in glee thinking that they have manage to turn the fans of Chelsea against their own club. Well, to me, if you’re really this kind of superficial fan, screw yourself and don’t go supporting this club any longer.
Did Man U fans boo Keane when he injured a player’s leg so badly that it ended his career? Did Arsenal fans boo Toure when he made a blatant handball at the penalty box to stop Rooney’s shot at Old Trafford?
Did Scousers boo Gerrard for diving oh so often?
You are a disgrace to this club Mark and whoever else involved. Not even worth my spit.
To others, JM should be credited for improving all the player’s level of playing . He might have not brought in players with the highest potential, but I look at it in two ways:
1) Very few of the players that is wanted by JM will consider coming here
2) As long as we can improve the players we have to the highest level, I don’t see a problem
Cheers all.
Can I just reiterate to Henry and Mark and all the other Chelsea boo boys on behalf of well everybody I’m sure - YOU SUCK! Give yourself an uppercut mate!
And don’t trick yourself into thinking you were just trying to get the best from your team. You’re a bunch of miserable sods and as much as you profess to love your club it doesn’t require your kind of support and wouldn’t no one would care if you never dragged your sorry *rse through the Stanford Bridge gates again.
You should all go to the ManU game wearing ‘I booed Drogba and I’m sorry’ T-shirts or alternatively don’t turn up at all … ever.
Mark,
Whilst it has raised some pretty strong feelings on here, I don’t think that suggesting that booing your own players isn’t on is demanding some sort of fascistic devotion to the club.
Booing is a pretty hollow victory - a few hundred people against one doesn’t really make a fair contest to my mind.
And you’re taking a car to Old Trafford? With all those Scousers in town? Double check that insurance policy before you leave!
I’ve read this article 3 times now Jonathan, and piss myself laughing every time, great job. Just can’t seem to get the image of ‘prime Tyledsley pork sword’ out of my head!
Just to add my voice to those previous who have criticised the boo-boys, I think booing your own player at Chelsea just adds more fire to the media frenzy to be honest. It’s OK for other teams’ fans to boo their whole team at half-time or at the end of a dire performance - it wouldn’t warrant a mention in the press, but at Chelsea everything is news. Let not lower ourselves to their base level.
As much as I loved Claudio in his time at the Bridge, I firmly believe that last season we would never have caught and overtook Arsenal to win the Premiership. They collapsed in part due to the incessant pressure put on them by our winning mentality instilled by JM. Just keep winning and the respect will come don’t you worry. Look at Liverpool in the ’80s - very dull to watch but effective. The same is true of Leeds in the ’70s and Arsenal in the early ’90s, but these teams eventually got the respect they deserved, and not a bad word is said about them now.
But for me, who cares if we get the recognition from the press or not? Not I, that’s for sure, just keep giving me silverware please!
How many years took Ferguson to transform good players into stars?
Meanwhile, how long he had to wait for results!
Can you imagine Arsenal/Barcelona winning trophies without Henry/Ronaldinho????
I’m sure we would be Champions without Terry or Frank, and that tells you a lot about JM.
Confession time…I jubilated when Ranieri was sacked…(still am)
Am shocked that a fan could eaily boo their players…shocking really…what message do you seek to pass on?
The press is getting to you…how WEAK WOULD YOU HAVE TO BE TO DO A DISGRACEFUL THING LIKE BOO YOUR OWN ….
WHO ARE THESE BOO BOYS ANYWAY?
HOW LONG HAVE THEY BEEN WITH THIS TEAM?
THAT SIGN OF WEAKNESS TO SWAY LIKE THE WIND
Re: Bates - a deeply flawed man who made mistakes but without whose energy and ambition we would almost certainly not be in the position we are today. I know that’s probably the standard line, but I think there’s some justification for it.
Morf,
Glad you enjoyed it and sorry about the Tyldesley thing - not a pleasant image I grant you!
The bloke who I sit next to at the Bridge summed Uncle Ken up quite nicely once. “He was a bastard, but he was our bastard.” Difficult to argue with that.
one thing is for sure..JM has indirectly given potential superstars for world cup..Terry looks like a born leader..and what about Joe cole on left wing??Lampard voted second best in the world and SWP even though on bench with chelsea will be playing sometime in 90 minutes for England..His records show what he has done to chelsea..People will definately start appreciating it..If Not now but definately after he leaves chelsea for Italy after couple of more years as always needs new challenges and wants to prove to this world that he can succeed in everything with his hard work and determination..JM is Great..
to boo your own players is disgraceful… to think that there is justification in doing it is completely stupid. whoever you boo-boys are, please find yourselves another club to “support” and go and boo their players.
thinking elsewhere Suman, i am sadened by your futuristic visions of a chelsea fc team without mourinho. to me he is the man-with-the-plan and although he didnt get it right against Liverpool, he is the best manager we could have for our team. i dont want to think of life without him. but i can sadly see him leaving us for more challenges in the future :(
but he hasnt gone yet, so lets live it up :)