Good morning.
A bad beginning makes a bad ending. Eurpides said that. He was right.
Two instances were brought to my attention yesterday of Chelsea fans singing about Auschwitz and hissing on the London Underground. Both accounts are without doubt completely credible and one shared with me by a disgusted Arsenal fan.
In the stadium the interruption of the minutes silence was indeed disrupted, but not by a small ‘minority’ as CFC would like to deliberately masquerade it. The chants and cat calls came from the upper tier of Wembley. They were protracted and clearly came from two or three different areas of that section. Video here.
The Chelsea fans were to the left and the noise mostly from the upper areas as I said. This YouTube clip on a mobile phone seems to have been made from beyond the halfway line so you can understand this was not ‘a minority’.
In the last half hour of the game, the same CFC fans were audibly hissing and coins were thrown down at Spurs fans.
Behind the area I was in to the right, the presence of a steward only just diffused a seriously aggressive pair of Chelsea fans red in the face, screaming, swearing and clearly threatening a woman and a man from their balcony position where I believe they were guests in a box.
So that was the beginning.
The game itself got underway well enough, they scored, then they scored again of course and here’s proof it didn’t cross the line for those that might still require same… There’s gif of the fiasco, here.
The clip also serves first and foremost as evidence that Terry clearly fouled King and arguably Benny too.
It may be of interest to say here that there were 6 ‘goals’ scored yesterday. This one was the only one not replayed in the stadium. Arry said the Daily Mail he spoke to ‘referee’ Martin Atkinson:
“He says he feels worse than I do. I said: “I don’t think so . He knows he’s made a mistake and he says he’ll have a bad week as well.”
I won’t blather on about the need for technology. The argument it isn’t required is much easier to address. If you don’t think technology is needed then you either have already have been or ought to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
My decision to bin Redschnapps was made some weeks ago. Remaining happy clappers on the Arry bus need to stop licking the windows, put their misplaced jingoism down and join the rest of us in the real world.
“It was key moment but we were still bang in the game at 2-1. We were chasing the game and we ended up four forwards on the pitch. I brought another forward on and we looked to open. We got punished and they picked us off.”
Arry yesterday.
“I played 442 today …I thought we were too open.”
“People say to me we’re better when we’re 442, I think we played that way today and I didn’t like the look of us, I thought we were miles too open.”
Arry after the Norwich humiliation.
He simply doesn’t know what he’s doing and he’s proving this by repeating the same mistakes, time after time. I maintain that we have an exciting squad that if managed coherently could do some damage. Genuinely compete.
Persisting with King looked like a disaster and proved to be just that. The poor guy makes Heskey look like Hussain Bolt. Parker needed Sandro. That pairing works. But Arry was obviously concerned about the lack of height at the back and he was sacrificed.
Removing Rafa was also stupid. Yet again, we couldn’t create much primarily because our passing was so shockingly poor but Arry saw bunging on more strike power as a solution. Arry would undoubtedly reply, ‘You fink you can do a better job you do it, then.’
I don’t believe we’ll make that Champions League place now. It would require a u-turn of David Cameron proportions. While this dolt is still running the show we won’t as they say in horse racing circles, beat the handicapper.
I could weep.
5.001 Name me any goalie that back four in front of him would have done a better job. Horrible horrible day for him.
5.093 He looked terribly casual about things. It’s pretty clear that the cornrows make him more focused. If you want to dispute that, be my guest. Some shocking passing.
5.0093 Oh dear. Some glimpses of the General, but teamed up with Lurch from the Addams Family and Forest Gump he too frequently was left chasing shadows.
3.002 Needs to be urgently retired. You do not, repeat do not keep selecting a player who isn’t up to the task, especially when he cannot train. Madness.
3.054 Out of his depth is the kindest thing I can say. Makes Forest Gump look like Albert Einstein is the unkindest. Some shocking passing.
7.654 Our MOTM. Again. Never seen a player like him for us in my lifetime. I’d put him above Graham Roberts. Gave all, ran himself ragged, made some brilliant interceptions. Made some shocking passes.
6.087 Without Sandro to shore him up he spent an awful lot of time mopping up when he’s at his best being sparking, creating. With Parker up to his knickers in blood & guts and Bale hanging around like he’s waiting for a bus Modders frequently got lost in the crowd.
6.075 Some astonishing runs down the left wing. But when he hasn’t got the ball he has to be one of the laziest players I have ever seen in my life.
5.999 Skipped and fizzed but all too frequently didn’t actually achieve too much. Really wish he wasn’t having to trade one -twos with Walker, who isn’t good enough a foil in the last third for us. Should have shot on goal, not passed that time.
7. 677 Some outstanding contributions early on but the shape of the team yet again didn’t promote him, it held him back. Arry’s too fick to know how to use him.
7. 679 Another one who was completely committed to the cause. His first touch isn’t great, but then most of our passes to each other were over hit or under hit.
Totally don’t agree with the Ledders and Billy ratings – should be reversed – three goals directly down to Billy.
I feel terribly sorry for Ledley – he must rage when gits like Rosicky now skip past him. On the bright side – there was a documentary on BBC4 last week and the London based scientist said that she had a process to naturally regenerate cartilege. It won’t rescue his career – but the club should honour him with a comfortable retirement by paying for the treatment.
After yesterday’s game and at other times like these it can be a comfort to gain inspiration from those who plumbed the depths of the human experience.
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
Samuel Beckett, “Worstward Ho”, 1983
Then again….our lot didn’t even manage to fail better.
So my crumb of comfort today is that I’m glad I’m not JP McManus – lost the big race on the nod and then had to put down the winner of the Gold Cup; God that’s has gotta hurt.
I agree with this. I’m cautious in my criticism of Ledley, with the greatest of respect – and an absolute soldier you’ve been – the time has come, and we have to let him go.
Harry on the other hand is a fool for not facing up to the fact he can’t do it anymore. City / Arsenal away.. Norwich at home…yesterday..weak management, very weak. And to let a healthy Bassong go out on loan was just reckless. Mastermind of our own downfall. Harry for England!
Sorry, is this the same Bassong that is now part of a leaking-goals-for-fun Wolves defence or a different one? The only crime there was in not shipping him out sooner.
The one clean sheet that Wolves have kept in ages was achieved on Saturday. Guess who was not in the Wolves back four on Saturday having been sent off against Woolwich Wanderers last Weds ? Yes indeed in was Bassong.
Agreed 100% King was better than Gallas yesterday. I suppose Gallas was given the task of looking after Drogba but in that respect he failed. King can’t be directly blamed for any of the goals and the falling apart act was more a failure of the midfield / organizational collapse rather than poor defence.
That said, our defence with half-fit and elderly Gallas, 10% fit Ledley and old man Nelsen looks very porous indeed for this ‘easy run-in’.
Quite simply the team have become less than the sum of their parts. We are in decline and in denial about it.
The reality is that our current trajectory suggests that we will miss 4th place and lose at least two of our bigger players as a result.
There is so much at stake over the next few weeks – Harry has a 5 match audition for the England job. If he fails we could lose big time.
Whatever happens we lose. Infact we have already lost and the FA have not actually done anything. Inaction is actually the worst thing they could have done. At least if they had come straight in for Harry we could have got say a Benitez, Capello or straight in and the players would have known exactly where they stand. If we had done that in February from a very strong position we could have called the shots. Now as we are sinking faster than a stone bucket of water we do not have such bargaining power or indeed the attraction for a top replacement. Never easy being a Spur.
The short term, on the cheap transfer policy will ensure that should we qualify for the CL, big changes will be necessary anyway.
We can’t force Modric to play for another year, and it looks to me as though he can no longer be trusted to give his best.
Adebayor, although far better than Defoe, just isn’t clinical enough to warrant breaking the pay grade.
Too many injury prone players for whom we haven’t sufficient cover is also another big problem that has been ignored.
We’ll be closer to square one than the title next season, whichever way you look at it.
The time to really invest was when we qualified for the CL. It would have shown ambition, but ambition costs money in football, something ENIC aren’t interested in spending.
Hard to take,I hate to sound like a whining scouser but nothing went our way yesterday or for quite some time .You make your own luck,but while the trouts in charge we we seem incapable the slightest tactical change working.
I still find it hard to believe we can mess up a CL spot.(3rd even,come on Wigan)Our run in is far easier and maybe we can take heart from a bit of form after losing to Portmouth in our last FA cup semi final defeat.
I was behind the near corner flag in the spurs end. So many things p*ssed me off yestertday, but above all Bale’s attitude is a disgrace. I watched Bale literally walk back to the halfway line after one attack…60 seconds later Benny is exposed 2 on 1 down the left and Chelsea get the crucial 3rd. Who the f*ck does this guy think he is? Forget how your agent is telling you to play, and listen to the coaches. Everyone at Barca is a better football than him AND they work harder without the ball. Gallas mistke for the 1st goal, heck even the refs mistake (outrageous as it was) were honest mistakes. Bale showed a lack of effort and respect for the team and the fans. Sir Alex would bench him for that, but I doubt Harry is strong enough with his favourites to do it. I’d go 4-2-3-1, bench him for Sandro and play Modric – VDV – Lennon in the 3 against QPR. Send out a message that no player is bigger than the team. Oh final point, Chelsea fans singing in the minutes silence are an embarrassment to football.
I’ve been saying this for a while. Bale and Modric in particular have no competition for their places so they can waltz around in the knowledge that they’ll be first on the team sheet next week anyway. Short sighted transfer/squad policies by Levy & Redknapp.
I bought a lovely pair of Diesel Jeans I had my eye on for a while in the JANUARY sales because my old ones wouldn’t last into February.
Made me feel fresh and they added a timely spring in my step. On top of that gave me confidence as my arse didn’t half look great in them.
In my honest opinion without them I’d be walking around with my posterior on show waiting to get shafted by any one wanting it.