Slipperduke's Slippery Column

[Slipperduke]

Thierry Henry

In what sounds ever so slightly like an SOS call, Thierry Henry has told the BBC that the only club in England he would ever consider returning to would be Arsenal. Henry had been linked with a move to Newcastle, but like any sane human being, he moved as quickly as he does in the penalty area to scotch that rumour. You only have to look at the injury records of Michael Owen, Damian Duff and, before them, Alan Shearer to see what happens when top class players go Toon-side. I love them dearly, but that club is cursed.

Henry has had a torrid time at the Camp Nou. Just seven goals in 25 appearances is a poor return considering the money they spent on him, but it’s his off-field performances that have caused the Catalans the most concern. Henry appears to have been leaking information to Robert Pires, now at Villarreal, about how unhappy he is. He has told reporters that he misses his daughter, who he left in London with his ex-wife. He has struggled to adjust to a new role on the left side of Barcelona’s attack and, all-in-all, he looks remarkably similar to Thierry Henry, circa 1999, when he was deployed as a left winger in an unhappy spell at Juventus.

None of this necessarily means that a return to The Emirates would be a good idea though. There are players who have come back to their former clubs to enjoy a second spell of relative success, but not many. Mark Hughes left Manchester United in 1986 for a miserable year at Barcelona, returning via Bayern Munich to win a collection of medals under Sir Alex Ferguson. Ian Rush returned from an equally unfulfilling year in Turin to win a title and a couple of FA Cups with Liverpool.

More often than not, however, a much heralded return ends in anti-climax. Jurgen Klinsmann’s second spell at Tottenham was soured by the revelations that he had a guaranteed first team place written into his contract. Neither of Juninho’s resurrections at The Riverside resulted in anything more than a couple of a nice stepovers and the hysterical scenes after the announcement of Duncan Ferguson’s re-appearance at Goodison Park were rewarded by just 22 goals in 123 games. Mind you, Big Dunc was always more of a figurehead than a goalscorer.

Henry will be remembered for generations to come as one of the finest players ever to wear an Arsenal shirt. In fact, along with Eric Cantona and Gianfranco Zola, he’s arguably one of the best players ever to play in the Premier League. He left Arsenal fans with enough memories to cement his place in their hearts. Would there be any benefit to returning, just as his career begins to wind down? He can only get slower now.

Arsene Wenger may not even want him to come back. The progress of Cesc Fabregas, Emmanuel Adebayor and Aleksandr Hleb has been dramatic since the departure of their old captain. No longer ordered to feed Henry at every opportunity, they’ve been allowed to florish in his absence. Would their remarkable progress, and they have progressed, from fourth to a possible second this year, be stunted by his presence?

Henry should stick it out in Spain for one more season at least. The summer will bring a new manager and, perhaps, a change of formation. He has proved himself in England and he will always be a legend. There is little to be gained by coming back now.

 

[EastStandBlue]

If Arsenal are foolish to bring Henry back, then i'd be willing to put money on him causing more problems than he solves solutions.

Ever since his departure, the younger players have all come out and said how they felt a weight had been lifted and the shackles cut off when he departed, and to smother their development by bringing him back would be a move of Steve McClaren-esque calamity.

Henry's return would bring them, what?, 15-20 goals next season? But how many would it cost them from the likes of Fabregas, Walcott, Hleb and Adebayor together?

If he is as desperate as he says mentions to return to London, then the only club I can see willing to pay the money would be Tottenham.

 

[sufcintheprem]

If Arsenal are foolish to bring Henry back, then i'd be willing to put money on him causing more problems than he solves solutions.

Ever since his departure, the younger players have all come out and said how they felt a weight had been lifted and the shackles cut off when he departed, and to smother their development by bringing him back would be a move of Steve McClaren-esque calamity.

Henry's return would bring them, what?, 15-20 goals next season? But how many would it cost them from the likes of Fabregas, Walcott, Hleb and Adebayor together?

If he is as desperate as he says mentions to return to London, then the only club I can see willing to pay the money would be Tottenham.

If you take that sentence and replace Arsenal with Southend and Henry with Eastwood then it hink your point is equally valid, by the way!

 

[Slipperduke]

Michael Ballack and Andreiy Shevchenko

After a distinctly underwhelming first season in English football, Michael Ballack and Andreiy Shevchenko were derided as hugely expensive flops, but yesterday, they gave Chelsea a real chance of winning their third title in four years. If they do, it will be the most extraordinary and unexpected comeback that I've ever seen. With a brace of goals, Ballack's contribution was clear but, Shevchenko, signed to put the ball in the net, was the hero at the other end for keeping it out, hooking Darren Fletcher's goal-bound header off the line. Between them, they earn approximately SG$750,000 a week. It's looking like money well spent now.

Chelsea, and brace yourself because I haven't said this in a while, were magnificent. In the first half they played at an exhaustive tempo, with width and with desire. The death of Frank Lampard's mother earlier this week seemed to spur them on as a unit and they commemerated her memory after Ballack's first goal by holding up a personalised Chelsea shirt to the crowd. Ballack and Michael Essien, in particular, were hugely influential. United were rattled and struggled all afternoon to hold onto possession. A long-range effort from Nani was their only chance of the first half and Sir Alex Ferguson's selection of a workman-like midfield looked ill-judged. Granted, he had to rest players in the middle of a gruelling week, but he badly missed the creativity of Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Scholes.

The league leaders were reeling inside the first ten minutes when they lost Nemanja Vidic to a nasty head injury. With typical courage, the Serbian centre-back stuck his head into the whirling arc of Didier Drogba's legs and took a knee in the face, forcing one of his teeth through his lip. Covered in blood, it seemed that he would be patched up and thrown back on, but as he clambered to his feet, he pitched and swayed like a fishing boat in a gale and then crumpled back to the ground. Without him at the back to partner Rio Ferdinand, United looked vulnerable.

Sir Alex Ferguson may have mellowed in his old age, but I bet there was no tranquility in his dressing room at half-time. The players returned to the pitch, ears still trembling in shock, and were much improved. Wayne Rooney's equaliser may have been the result of a complete meltdown from Paulo Ferreira and Ricardo Carvalho, but it owed much to Ferguson's decision to push his players up the pitch and pressurise Chelsea into making the mistake.

There were fears that Chelsea were imploding towards the end when Ballack and Didier Drogba fought like cat and dog over the right to take a free-kick. Despite Carvalho's best efforts to break them up the spat continued, even after Drogba had forced a good save from Edwin van der Sar. In the end, as Drogba ranted at his team-mate on the touchline, assistant manager Steve Clarke had to walk onto the pitch and tell him to shut up. Oddly, Drogba wasn't so keen to take the crucial penalty. That was real pressure and he wanted no part of it. Unopposed, Ballack stepped up and even a punter as hopeless as me wouldn't bet against a German scoring from the spot.

I wrote earlier this week about a 1995 syndrome developing at Old Trafford. 13 years ago, it looked like Sir Alex Ferguson was heading for a third successive title, but they were gradually overhauled by Blackburn Rovers, a workman-like side assembled at great expense on the whim of an indulgent multi-millionaire. That year, they lost the title when they dropped points against West Ham. You'll never guess who they play next week. This title race is going all the way to the wire.

 

[EastStandBlue]

I'll be devastated if Chelsea manage to claw their way back to win this... Not that I support United at all, but i'd hate to see a genuine football side, obviously drained of energy at the moment, lose the title to a Chelsea who have hobbled over the line.

 

[Slipperduke]

The Curse Of White Hart Lane.

When rumours of talks between Tottenham Hotspur and Luka Modric's representatives leaked out, I assumed foul play. With Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool all thought to be sniffing around the young Croatian midfielder, surely Modric's agent was releasing an SOS call to the big guns. A kind of declaration of intent.

"If one of you lot doesn't hurry up and show me the money," the agent must have thought, "I'll let him sign for Spurs. Don't think I won't do it!" It's always embarrassing when someone calls your bluff, isn't it?

Not that Tottenham have anything to be ashamed of, they've just secured the signature of one of Europe's most exciting footballers. I studied Modric in March for one of my Eurowatch articles and I fell in love with him there and then. He's so light-footed that he seems to dance over the turf without disturbing a blade of grass. He is the attacking midfielder that Tottenham have been crying out for. The central source of creativity that they need if they are to challenge the big four. The question is, will he survive the first season?

Modric is very small. So small that if he was forced to wrestle a sparrow for his dinner, there's a good chance that he'd go hungry that night. However, I seem to remember similar concerns about Gianfranco Zola and he seemed to survive quite happily. He's certainly fleet-footed enough to dodge the heavier challenges, though he has at least one international team-mate who can warn him about the physical defenders over here.

My real concern is The Curse Of White Hart Lane. The horrific jinx that kicks in every time Tottenham get their sticky mitts on a player capable of taking them up to the top level. The shin splints that consumed the formative years of Nick Barmby's career. The back and knee problems that turned Steffen Iversen from European young gun to a limping relic of broken dreams. Darren Anderton, who was so prone to injuries that, to paraphrase the late, great Brian Clough, if he'd have been a racehorse, they'd have shot him.

These days, the curse manifests itself fully in the form of Ledley King. The Tottenham captain has suffered so badly that he has already had to deny rumours that he'll be retiring this summer. King is one of the finest centre-backs in English football and a confidence generator, pumping waves of pure courage across the back four. Alongside him, Michael Dawson looks international class. Without him, Dawson is remedial class. Somehow, it seems that Jonathan Woodgate is just about bearing up, but that's only a matter of time, surely?

But, in the unlikely event that Modric can survive all that, Tottenham could be on the brink of an exciting new dawn. A fit King and Woodgate is as good a defensive partnership as you'll find anywhere in Europe. Alan Hutton looks like he's been in the team for years and Aaron Lennon, while not the most skilful of players, still has enough pace to cause any defence problems. With Modric in the middle and Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane up front, you've got half a top class team there. Tottenham now have the potential to convincingly challenge for fourth. Unfortunately, they're still Tottenham, aren't they? Something's bound to go wrong.

Luka Modric may be one of the best midfielders on the continent, but suddenly all I can see are a serious of muscular problems, a wonderful solo goal against Bournemouth in the Carling Cup, a horrifically dislocated knee-cap, a long fight back to full fitness and a period out on loan at Shakhtar Donetsk.

 

[sufcintheprem]

...or a spell lighting up Harry Redknapp's midfield having taken advice on South Coast life from Boris Zivkovic.

In terms of him surviving the physicality, you have to remember that Zola was the most likeable man in football who even Vinnie Jones would have thought twice about chopping down. Modric will need to work on his personable character and wrinkly smile to save him when his stunning footwork is no longer enough.

 

[Slipperduke]

Derby v Arsenal

There was a point in the proceedings at Pride Park when this odd football match crossed an invisible line between disaster and farce. An Arsenal cross looped into the home penalty area, but drifted a little too far and looked to be heading out of play. Derby's wardrobe-shaped Darren Moore lumbered into view and recklessly attempted to keep it in. In his own penalty area against one of the best teams in Europe, he actually tried to bring a ball that was heading out for a goal kick, back into play. With one voice, the entire home crowd screamed, "Leave it! Leave it!" Moore obeyed them, the ball swirled out of play and he turned to applaud them for their advice. Perhaps if the crowd had been this helpful all year, Derby wouldn't be in so much trouble. Now that I come to think about it, perhaps if someone from the crowd had actually been playing instead of Moore, Derby wouldn't be in so much trouble.

It pains me to draw attention to Moore's shortcomings because I know from personal experience that the enormous defender is one of the nicest footballers in the game, a consumate professional, generous with his time both for fans and for a number of charities. To make up for it, let me stress that you could have replaced almost any member of this side, bar the goalkeeper, with one of the crowd and it would have made little difference to the final score. Derby are simply the worst football team I have ever seen in the Premier League, and that includes Swindon Town.

Strangely, they actually started really well. Tyrone Mears fired in a series of good crosses from the right wing that young goalkeeper Lucasz Fabianski struggled to deal with and, had Emanuel Villa been more alert, he might have scored an unlikely opener.

"In the opening stages Derby gave everything," said Arsene Wenger afterwards. "They didn't look like a team with no confidence. They were dangerous on every set-piece."

For the first twenty minutes, possibly due to Arsenal's mistaken belief that they could turn up and win with their eyes closed, he was absolutely right. Sadly, when Robbie Savage played a simple ball to Moore's feet in the 25th minute, it all went wrong. You see, Moore is essentially a mobile obstacle for opponents, not an actual footballer, per se. He lost control of the slow-moving sphere, Nicklas Bendtner stepped in, lent it to Robin van Persie for a moment and then, upon completing the one-two, stroked it home to an audible sigh of resignation from the home fans. It was their entire season encapsualted in a single passage of play.

When a team scores six goals away from home, regardless of whether they are Arsenal or Accrington Stanley, it seems churlish to pick faults, but the gulf in class here was so vast that the Gunners should be wondering why they didn't score twelve. At times it was like a training exercise, but a really worthless, one-sided exercise designed either to break the hearts of the defenders or artifically raise the morale of the strikers. Roy Carroll deserves credit for a number of excellent saves, but that's it. I can't find any other positives. Robert Earnshaw briefly brought the scoreline to 2-3, but any praise derived from that act was instantly squandered when he celebrated, very much alone I might add, with a bizarre Irish jig. A SG$9m striker scoring his first league goal at the end of April should not, for shame, be dancing.

The only source of pride for Derby fans is looking back at them from the mirror every morning. It must have been a soul-destroying 10 months, but they still turn up and fill the stadium, they still sing their hearts out and they still back their boys, even the hapless Moore who they love, quite rightly, regardless of his limitations. They will be there in August when the season begins again at a lower level. Paul Jewell will be keen to ensure that most of this starting eleven are not.

 

[Slipperduke]

Manchester United v Barcelona part 3

The stage is now set for what we can confidently call, without any fear of exaggeration, the most important English club football match in history. Manchester United's hard-fought progression to the European Cup Final means that, whatever happens tonight, it will be an all-Premier League affair in Moscow. The Russian police force must be absolutely delighted with that news.

Barcelona had more shots and enjoyed the lion's share of the ball, but they were never quite able to convert their posession into clear-cut chances. Thierry Henry twice squirmed his way in on goal, but on both occasions the ball flew at Edwin van der Sar like a pin to a magnet. Deco missed as well, once over and once wide, while all the genius of Lionel Messi went to waste as his team-mates failed to make the best of his impish runs and through-balls. Barcelona were beaten, fairly and squarely, by the better team.

It was fitting that the crucial goal, the strike that took United to their first European final for nine years, was crashed home by the man who missed that historic night at the Camp Nou in 1999 through suspension. When Gianluca Zambrotta's reckless blind pass fell at Scholes' feet, you knew instantly where the ball was going to end up. Victor Valdes would have had more luck trying to catch a comet.

"He's one of our great players," said a jubilant Sir Alex Ferguson after the final whistle. "He's come through the ranks, he knows the club inside out."

"Will he be the first name on the team-sheet in Moscow?" asked a reporter.

"Absolutely!" beamed Ferguson.

But as wonderful as Scholes' thunderbolt was, this was not a victory won through superior firepower. Since Nemanja Vidic began to fall apart at the seams, the common consensus has been that Wes Brown is a substandard replacement. Not this time, he wasn't. The English defender, more accustomed to the role of full-back, was a mountain at the back, making two critical late challenges as Barcelona pressed forward in desperation. Next to him, Rio Ferdinand was equally magnificent. Time and time again the Catalans poured forward, strikers zipping this way and that, frantically trying to find an inch or two of space, but always ending up on the wrong side of an impregnable red wall.

Barcelona were beautiful in everything they did, but as Arsenal found out this season, it's an attribute that's only skin-deep. United had more desire, more fight, more hunger for that trip to Moscow. Carlos Tevez, in particular, pounded across the pitch all night, hurling himself into challenges and tearing back into his own half to deny Barcelona the time they needed on the ball. He wasn't alone. Cristiano Ronaldo played his heart out for the team, even if he wasn't able to deliver the goal that he'd promised as penance for his spot-kick miss. Owen Hargreaves kept Andres Iniesta in his pocket. Ji-Sung Park fought valiantly to create chances. For the Catalans, only Carlos Puyol, Yaya Toure and Messi can be truly satisfied with their contributions.

"I can't put it into words," gasped an exhausted Ferdinand at full-time. "We had to dig in deep, we stayed together and we're there now. We don't care who it is. We're waiting for whoever comes."

The identity of their opponents will be revealed later tonight at Stamford Bridge, but whether it's Chelsea or Liverpool, one thing is abundantly clear. Manchester United are back.

 

[Slipperduke]

Manchester United's breathless victory over Barcelona may have been good viewing for their own fans, but you can bet that no-one at Stamford Bridge was as enthusiastic about the match. Chelsea have fought their way back into the title race with grit, consistency and a fine victory over their rivals, but they still need the champions to slip up, just once, if they're to regain the title. On the evidence of that display, Avram Grant is out of luck. United are going to romp home in their final two league games and then it would be a brave man who bets against them winning in Moscow.

People were very quick to point fingers at Sir Alex Ferguson's team selection at the weekend, but it looks like a master-stroke now. Cristiano Ronaldo, Paul Scholes and Carlos Tevez were all left out on Saturday and all returned to put in an outstanding shift at Old Trafford. Ferguson had said that it was impossible to play in the Camp Nou, Stamford Bridge and then again against Barcelona in the space of one week. The defeat to Chelsea was bad, but now you can talk about handballs, denied penalty appeals, fights in the tunnel and brawls in the warm-down all you like. The simple fact is that United just need to beat West Ham and Wigan to secure their 17th league title.

This was a performance of a team who have banished their doubts, put fear to the back of their mind and knuckled down for the final fight. As much as Barcelona dominated through possession and chances, United never looked like buckling. Thierry Henry's point-blank header was the only time that Edwin van der Sar's net looked in serious danger. Rio Ferdinand and Wes Brown kept their strikers at bay, ably assisted by excellent performances from Patrice Evra and Owen Hargreaves.

Manchester United have rarely done themselves justice in this competition. There are few teams in Europe who have spent as long at the top of their domestic leagues, so the return of just one European Cup in fifteen years is poor. Traditionally, they crash out at the semi-final stage after attempting to win every competition they enter. Their premature elimination in the FA Cup may actually have been a blessing in disguise. Of course, having 75,000 fans to carry them over the line didn't hurt either. Every club has looked at Liverpool's fervent support and wondered if their own fans could contribute so passionately. United followers passed the test.

For Barcelona, it's very much the end of an era. Frank Rijkaard insisted that he wouldn't quit his post, but with the team out of Europe and third in La Liga, he may not even get the chance. His time at the Camp Nou is up whether he likes it or not. Barcelona are caught between two eras. A future of Lionel Messi, Bojan and Yaya Toure is bright, but the Catalans must shed their past this summer. The ever-expanding bottom of Ronaldinho needs to be punted out of the door instantly and, from the look of Samuel Eto'o, there's a strong case for him changing his scene as well. Victor Valdes is not a top class goalkeeper and I have my doubts about Gabriel Milito as well. A new broom sweeps clean, so they say, and the identity of that new broom should announced in the next month.

 

[Slipperduke]

Chelsea v Liverpool

Frank Lampard has never been the most popular of footballers, certainly not with fans of other clubs, but you'd have to have a heart of stone not to stand up and applaud his astonishing composure after a emotional night at Stamford Bridge. Seconds after seeing a goal they were already busy celebrating ruled out for offside, Chelsea won a crucial extra-time penalty. Michael Ballack, the hero against Manchester United at the weekend, stepped forward but Lampard, who lost his mother just six days previously, took the ball from him and looked to the heavens for inspiration. Is it sentimental to suggest that he got a response? Without any sign of nerves he smashed the ball home and then crumpled into tears as his father looked on proudly from the stands. Even the Liverpool fans, a sentimental bunch at the best of times, would have had to admire his courage.

They certainly don't admire the work of Didier Drogba, a serial diver who was at his worst at Anfield last week, prompting a fierce condemnation from Rafa Benitez. The Spanish manager is a tactical master, but you have to question the wisdom of launching an outspoken attack on a striker who wasn't exactly in the best form of his career. The big Ivorian responded emphatically, smashing home the first goal and then running all the way to the Liverpool dug-out to skid to his knees and glare at his tormentor.

This was a game played in the worst of conditions on a pitch that began to tear up within minutes of the kick-off. It made for a scrappy, messy match and prevented either side from stringing passes together, a condition that, oddly enough, affected this rejuvenated Chelsea side as much as it did their opponents. For the first half, one Fernando Torres shot aside, Liverpool could barely get out of their own half and were forced to hold their breath as Michael Essien and Michael Ballack peppered Jose Reina's goal with long-shots.

With players skidding about in the mud and passes going astray, it's difficult to isolate a man of the match and this was a rare occasion when the referee, Roberto Rosetti, would have as much claim on the title as anyone else. He was called upon to make four enormous decisions here and he got all of them correct. He disallowed Michael Essien's extra-time strike for offside and, for once, the new, complicated rule was applied to perfection. Chelsea had four players offside when the ball was hit, three of whom were not interfering with play, but Drogba was standing in front of Reina, obscuring his view. Then, moments later, Sami Hyypia slammed into Michael Ballack, costing his side a penalty. Liverpool were denied penalties of their own twice afterwards, once when Ryan Babel dived at the other end and then again when Drogba hung out a leg and Hyypia went down. There was certainly contact, but it was on the leg that was in the air, not the standing leg and Hyypia went down in instalments. Four calls, four correct decisions.

Avram Grant then, for all the abuse and for all the taunts, has made history. No other manager, least of all you-know-who, has ever taken the London side this far. Many of his critics, myself included, have repeatedly said that when this Chelsea side stop playing awful football and do something worth applauding, we'll be the first to start clapping. Grant has just about held his side together in a turbulent season, he has brought them into an improbable title race and he has taken them to Moscow. He's made mistakes along the way and they've highlighted mercilessly, but that's part of being a top level manager. Only ultimate victory will give him the 'special' status, but for the moment he deserves to enjoy the limelight. This night, however, will forever belong to another much-maligned soul whose bravery may finally have won him the widespread respect he has always craved.

 

[Aberdeen Shrimper]

Slipper,

I totally agree with your comments regards Frank Lampard. Love him or hate him it took courage and strength just to walk out on the pitch in the semi final of the Champions League let alone step up to the plate and take a pen.

If my mum had just passed away i would be struggling to go to work and i just buy for a living.

Good report Slipper as always, a couple of things...

What was the Avram Grant falling to his knees thing all about at the end of the game, It was all a bit Michael Jacksonesk when he was in the video Earth Song.

Secondly were on earth was Roman Abromavich, the owner of a football club that are about to step in to the biggest domestic cup final in the world and he is not even there at his own ground??

 

[Napster]

What was the Avram Grant falling to his knees thing all about at the end of the game, It was all a bit Michael Jacksonesk when he was in the video Earth Song.

That was in tribute to Holocaust Day, I think. His grandfather was killed by the Nazis and his father buried him with his own hands. While the Chelsea players are celebrating today, Avram is flying to Auschwitz to deliver an address.

The more I hear about Avram, the more I respect him.

 

[Interpol Shrimper]

Frank Lampard has never been the most popular of footballers, certainly not with fans of other clubs, but you'd have to have a heart of stone not to stand up and applaud his astonishing composure after a emotional night at Stamford Bridge.

That will be me then!
Totally overstaged, and confirms what a **** that man truly is.

 

[Pubey]

That was in tribute to Holocaust Day, I think. His grandfather was killed by the Nazis and his father buried him with his own hands. While the Chelsea players are celebrating today, Avram is flying to Auschwitz to deliver an address.

The more I hear about Avram, the more I respect him.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/04/29/sfnche129.xml

you're right... huge amount of respect for the guy, as he and frank lampard have shown, there are more important things in life than football

 

[EastStandBlue]

That will be me then!
Totally overstaged, and confirms what a **** that man truly is.

As much as I loathe Fat Frank and think he's the single most overrated, overpriced primadonna in football today, you have to admit it took a tremendous amount of courage to not only play, but to snatch the ball from Ballack, who scored the penalty at the weekend, and slot the ball cooly home.


Aside from that, i'm now 100% sure that John Terry is on a one man mission to become the most detestable c*nt in Football. Everytime I watch Chelsea, i'm confident that he won't do anything to increase my hatred, but somehow he manages it.

 

[Slipperduke]

Being caught crying in front of the television by your girlfriend is one of the most humiliating moments of any man's life. The actual most humiliating moment, I can now confirm to you, is explaining to her that you were crying because a man you don't know has scored a goal for a club you don't support. That took some doing, I tell you. I don't cry very often. Not saying goodbye, not at weddings and only occasionally when chopping onions, but the lump that appeared in my throat when Frank Lampard stepped up to take that penalty...

My Achilles heel has always been moments of great sporting bravery, they do for me every time. I found myself welling up when West Bromwich Albion pulled off a remarkable last day escape in 2005 and the last time I actually, properly cried was watching the DVD of 'Cool Runnings' when the rich kid's father undoes his jacket to reveal a 'Go Jamaica' t-shirt. Oh Lordy, just the act of typing that line has made my lower lip wobble again.

I always thought that Liverpool had a monopoly on sentimentality, but with Lampard's composure and Avram Grant's version of Michael Jackson's 'Earth Song' on the touchline, there can't have been a dry eye in the house. Liverpool have always been the team for great European nights, but this was Chelsea's time and how they made it count. Liverpool fans will mock the fact that the Stamford Bridge hierarchy have to give their blue flags away, while the scousers will painstakingly stitch their own, but the majority have been graceful in defeat, recognising that their team was bested on the night and congratulating Lampard for his composure.

But what now of Grant? He has achieved what no other Chelsea manager could; a European Cup final. He has dragged his team back into a title race that looked over months ago. Surely now he has secured his future? He's certainly done much, much better than anyone could have expected when he arrived. However, the same problems still remain. The stories still circulate about players disgruntled with a lack of tactical preparation. Top class managers also have a responsibility to provide for the media, not just to make my life easier, but also to, and here's that awful phrase again, 'build the brand'. Chelsea want to rival Barcelona and AC Milan, they want to be a big club and, as much as it pains me to say, they can't do that without the off-the-pitch benefits of a high-profile manager.

There are also concerns about the few changes he has made to personnel. Nicolas Anelka doesn't seem to fit into the team anywhere, Branislav Ivanovic, who cost almost as much as the French striker, hasn't even played a game yet. Henk Ten Cate and Steve Clarke are rumoured not to get on and it was interesting to note that neither one of them stepped in to help when Steven Gerrard caught Grant in the face and sent him tumbling into the dugout.

If Grant wins the European Cup, it will be very difficult to bring in a new Head Coach. If he wins in Moscow and wins the league, it will be impossible. My hunch though, is that he won't win either. The Powers That Be at Chelsea left the Director of Football chair empty when Grant moved up a level. For all of the tear-stained emotion and for all of the magnificence of this historic win, I still think he'll be moved aside at the end of the season.

 

[Napster]

My Achilles heel has always been moments of great sporting bravery, they do for me every time. I found myself welling up when West Bromwich Albion pulled off a remarkable last day escape in 2005

Is this Slipperduke?

 

[Aberdeen Shrimper]

That was in tribute to Holocaust Day, I think. His grandfather was killed by the Nazis and his father buried him with his own hands. While the Chelsea players are celebrating today, Avram is flying to Auschwitz to deliver an address.

The more I hear about Avram, the more I respect him.

Fair comment......cheers for the informed post mate

 

[Aberdeen Shrimper]

As much as I loathe Fat Frank and think he's the single most overrated, overpriced primadonna in football today, you have to admit it took a tremendous amount of courage to not only play, but to snatch the ball from Ballack, who scored the penalty at the weekend, and slot the ball cooly home.


Aside from that, i'm now 100% sure that John Terry is on a one man mission to become the most detestable c*nt in Football. Everytime I watch Chelsea, i'm confident that he won't do anything to increase my hatred, but somehow he manages it.

100% agree mate......the guys has just lost his mum FFS, football aside, you have to respect the guy for his courage.