Slipperduke
The Camden Cad
Steve Bruce grinned like a naughty schoolboy as he sat down in front of the assembled press and he clasped a hand to his chest.
"My phone's buzzing away, gentlemen. I wouldn't mind, but he's only texted me four times in the last four months. Twice on the day of the Arsenal game, twice today!"
There were no prizes being given out for guessing the identity of Bruce's SMS associate. Wherever he was, and I like to imagine that it was in the top room of a gothic castle in the middle of a thunderstorm, Sir Alex Ferguson must have been delighted. One by one, his title rivals are imploding.
Nobody could have foreseen a disaster like this. Wigan worked hard and ran the lines diligently, but it seemed that they were some way short of the quality required to open up a team like Chelsea. Their more talented players like Wilson Palacios and Antonio Valencia were nullified, their defenders were struggling to cope with Chelsea's movement and only an exceptional performance from Chris Kirkland had kept the scoreline down. When Antoine Sibierski blasted a late shot at Petr Cech, the home fans breathed a sigh of relief and then started to file out of the stadium, convinced that the job was done.
Wigan had only brought a handful of supporters to Stamford Bridge. They'd sat in the cold all night, politely applauding their players and absorbing the taunts from nearby Chelsea fans. "Who are you?" laughed the Blues. In injury time, they found out. Wigan are a team who don't give up and how those scattered supporters enjoyed their moment. Emile Heskey slid onto Jason Koumas' cross and angled the ball home, prompting scenes of jubilation on Bruce's bench and stunning the emptying stadium into silence. It was a surreal moment, watching thousands of shocked faces trying to comprehend what they'd just seen and then trying to find someone to blame. They settled for their usual target and as the time ran out on Chelsea's title challenge, Avram Grant heard his theme song once again. "You don't know what you're doing,' didn't ring around the stadium like it did against Arsenal. It was spat at him in anger. There was no tune, just hatred. Bubbling, frothing hatred pouring down from the stands.
Grant's initial team selection had caused concern when it was announced, but perhaps unfairly. Chelsea were scheduled to play Wigan last Saturday and Everton next Saturday, but the TV companies have forced the games onto Monday and Thursday, a decision that even Bruce insisted was, "ridiculous." With one eye on Goodison Park, Grant left out Joe Cole. Didier Drogba was missing with a knock and Frank Lampard was said to have 'personal matters' to deal with, but no-one in Stamford Bridge seemed to care about the other absentees. They just wanted to see Cole and from the first misplaced pass of the evening, they howled at Grant for his arrival.
After a first half that was good for nothing except curing insomnia, Grant bowed to the crowd, introduced Cole and the game was turned on its head. The little playmaker was a blur of flashing feet and dropping shoulders. He dived in at tackles and then gesticulated at his team-mates to show the same ferocity. The crowd loved it. In reality, the crowd should show a little gratitude to Grant, who liberated him from the left flank earlier this season. Cole is versatile enough to do a job out there, but he belongs on the right and the reason we're seeing him fulfil his enormous potential is because of Grant's decision to play him in the correct position. Unfortunately for the soon-to-be ex-Chelsea boss, no-one cared about that after Heskey scored.
"We have to beat Everton," accepted a sombre, funereal Grant at the press conference. "If not, it will be very hard."
It will be more than 'very hard'. Anything less than a victory at Goodison Park and Manchester United will be able to win the title at Stamford Bridge on April 26. If Grant thinks the abuse from the stands is bad now, he'd better bring his ear-plugs for that one.
"My phone's buzzing away, gentlemen. I wouldn't mind, but he's only texted me four times in the last four months. Twice on the day of the Arsenal game, twice today!"
There were no prizes being given out for guessing the identity of Bruce's SMS associate. Wherever he was, and I like to imagine that it was in the top room of a gothic castle in the middle of a thunderstorm, Sir Alex Ferguson must have been delighted. One by one, his title rivals are imploding.
Nobody could have foreseen a disaster like this. Wigan worked hard and ran the lines diligently, but it seemed that they were some way short of the quality required to open up a team like Chelsea. Their more talented players like Wilson Palacios and Antonio Valencia were nullified, their defenders were struggling to cope with Chelsea's movement and only an exceptional performance from Chris Kirkland had kept the scoreline down. When Antoine Sibierski blasted a late shot at Petr Cech, the home fans breathed a sigh of relief and then started to file out of the stadium, convinced that the job was done.
Wigan had only brought a handful of supporters to Stamford Bridge. They'd sat in the cold all night, politely applauding their players and absorbing the taunts from nearby Chelsea fans. "Who are you?" laughed the Blues. In injury time, they found out. Wigan are a team who don't give up and how those scattered supporters enjoyed their moment. Emile Heskey slid onto Jason Koumas' cross and angled the ball home, prompting scenes of jubilation on Bruce's bench and stunning the emptying stadium into silence. It was a surreal moment, watching thousands of shocked faces trying to comprehend what they'd just seen and then trying to find someone to blame. They settled for their usual target and as the time ran out on Chelsea's title challenge, Avram Grant heard his theme song once again. "You don't know what you're doing,' didn't ring around the stadium like it did against Arsenal. It was spat at him in anger. There was no tune, just hatred. Bubbling, frothing hatred pouring down from the stands.
Grant's initial team selection had caused concern when it was announced, but perhaps unfairly. Chelsea were scheduled to play Wigan last Saturday and Everton next Saturday, but the TV companies have forced the games onto Monday and Thursday, a decision that even Bruce insisted was, "ridiculous." With one eye on Goodison Park, Grant left out Joe Cole. Didier Drogba was missing with a knock and Frank Lampard was said to have 'personal matters' to deal with, but no-one in Stamford Bridge seemed to care about the other absentees. They just wanted to see Cole and from the first misplaced pass of the evening, they howled at Grant for his arrival.
After a first half that was good for nothing except curing insomnia, Grant bowed to the crowd, introduced Cole and the game was turned on its head. The little playmaker was a blur of flashing feet and dropping shoulders. He dived in at tackles and then gesticulated at his team-mates to show the same ferocity. The crowd loved it. In reality, the crowd should show a little gratitude to Grant, who liberated him from the left flank earlier this season. Cole is versatile enough to do a job out there, but he belongs on the right and the reason we're seeing him fulfil his enormous potential is because of Grant's decision to play him in the correct position. Unfortunately for the soon-to-be ex-Chelsea boss, no-one cared about that after Heskey scored.
"We have to beat Everton," accepted a sombre, funereal Grant at the press conference. "If not, it will be very hard."
It will be more than 'very hard'. Anything less than a victory at Goodison Park and Manchester United will be able to win the title at Stamford Bridge on April 26. If Grant thinks the abuse from the stands is bad now, he'd better bring his ear-plugs for that one.
