It felt happy, carefree and so seemingly innocent when my personal FA Cup odyssey stumbled forth last August at North Shields versus Birtley Town in what is known as extra pre-qualifying.
There was no idea then that nine rounds and seven months later at Middlesbrough, the FA Cup holders Chelsea would arrive on the path and their manager — their interim manager — Rafael Benitez would deliver a press conference so dramatic they may need Daniel Day-Lewis to convey its power in the future.
Where Benitez is left by an intervention in which he accused those above him of ‘a mistake’ in giving him that interim title — and during which he also took on ‘a group of fans’ who once again sang loudly: ‘We don’t care about Rafa, he don’t care about us’ — is Roman Abramovich’s call now.
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End of the road? Rafa Benitez gave an extraordinary post-match interview as Chelsea won at Middlesbrough ROMAN'S MANAGERSClaudio Ranieri Sept 2000-May 2004Jose Mourinho June 2004-Sept 2007Avram Grant Sept 2007-May 2008Luiz Felipe Scolari July 2008-Feb 2009Ray Wilkins Feb 2009Guus Hiddink Feb 2009-May 2009 Carlo Ancelotti June 2009-May 2011Andre Villas-Boas June 2011-Mar 2012 Roberto Di Matteo Mar 2012-Nov 2012Rafa Benitez November 2012-
Abramovich, as we know, is not slow to call time and if, even as early as this morning, the smoke signals state that they are looking for a new Pope of Stamford Bridge, who would be surprised?
Benitez used the Biblical phrase ‘wash our hands’. He considers himself to have been sold out.
Avram Grant is usually available in these circumstances, though at the final whistle it was coach Steve Holland who greeted the victorious Chelsea players as they left the pitch. Benitez was already down the tunnel.
But if a third managerial dismissal in 12 months following Andre Villas-Boas and Roberto Di Matteo is not the hierarchy’s course of action, then Benitez will lead Chelsea out at home on Saturday against West Brom having repeatedly challenged ‘a group’ of Chelsea’s fans to cease their baiting of him in song and banner. This is a club eating itself in public.
Available: Avram Grant (left) shares a joke with Roman Abramovich the last time he came to Chelsea's 'rescue' Snapped: Benitez has been under increasing pressure from the Chelsea fans since taking overEqually significantly, if not more so, Benitez has taken on those who appointed him, saying that he was unaware of the ‘interim’ title until he landed at Stamford Bridge. Benitez said that his agent had done the talking and something must have got lost in the ‘Spanish-English translation. I felt it was a mistake.’
This morning is Day 99 of his loose tenure and there must now be an even greater doubt about Benitez making that three figures. An indication of the drama was that he was asked not once about the fact Chelsea secured a safe passage to the last eight here and thus a trip to Old Trafford on Sunday week.
Had things been different, were his Chelsea status different, the agenda would be about Benitez meeting Sir Alex Ferguson once more. Instead, Benitez’s references to other ‘agendas’ means that he has taken on those above and around him. Even in victory, Chelsea are convulsed by intrigue.
Young gun: Nathan Ake was a surprise starter for Chelsea as they beat Middlesbrough in the FA CupThere had been remarks when the Chelsea team-sheet appeared around 7pm that the inclusion of 18-year-old Nathan Ake and other fringe players represented the sort of coded resignation letter that Ruud Gullit once submitted up the road at Newcastle United, but that was incomparable to the words afterwards.
Benitez has bitten his lip since replacing Di Matteo in November and has tap-danced around the subject of his impermanence ever since, but he had clearly reached the end of his tether. Although he denied that he has been professionally disrespected by the term ‘interim’, that was not the impression.
The drip-drip of stories about the squad, allied to the lack of public support from above — and perhaps privately — has obviously left the 52-year-old questioning whether You’ll Never Walk Alone is really true.
Meanwhile: Benitez's rant overshadowed a comfortable Chelsea victory at the RiversideBenitez mentioned his Liverpool past twice when reaching for an explanation for his unpopularity. It is a fact. He touched on a few others — his La Liga titles, the European Cup with Liverpool, and the FA Cup.
This was someone standing up for himself, someone who had thought about what he was going to say and prepared for the consequences. Admiration for Benitez for his readiness to do this will increase outside west London.
Understandably, this is a manager who wants to manage. Some can quibble with his manic fascination with tactical detail but he has proven himself at Valencia and Liverpool. At those clubs there was a clear line of authority but at Chelsea, when he wants to lead, Benitez must have felt surrounded by a history he could not embrace.
That is part of the problem of Abramovich’s hire-and-fire regime. Should Benitez make it to Saturday, he will shake hands with his opposite number Steve Clarke, 421 Chelsea appearances. And none for Liverpool.
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