Chelsea supporters can boo as loudly as they like on Saturday — they’ve paid their money after all. But the first thing to say is that pretty much everything Rafa Benitez said was right.
He was undermined at Chelsea from day one by the bizarre decision to invite him to take charge, only to chop his legs away with the title of Interim Manager.
Benitez said it was a ‘massive mistake’. So did we all.
Speaking out: Benitez caused a storm on Wednesday night when he gave his take on the goings on at Chelsea More from Des Kelly... DES KELLY: Well, nothing lasts forever... it's been a blast! Sportsmail's brilliant columnist bows out after almost a decade at the top 31/05/13 Des Kelly: When it came to the most important tick of his career clock, Sir Alex bowed out at the perfect moment 10/05/13 DES KELLY: The idea that governing bodies are serious about exposing drug cheats is a myth... the cover-up makes my blood boil 03/05/13 Des Kelly: Sorry Liverpool, this isn't a conspiracy by the PM, FA, MI5, British Dental Association, and Society Against Cannibalism in Sport 26/04/13 Des Kelly: An immense river of humanity will flow through London... the marathon must produce mighty roar of defiance 19/04/13 DES KELLY: Fans come a distant second to Cup cash 12/04/13 Des Kelly: Forget his politics... is Paolo really up to the job? 05/04/13 Des Kelly: The evidence is so subtle many missed it... is this bonfire a case of smoke and mirrors? 29/03/13 Des Kelly: British taxpayers have just handed West Ham a stadium worth half a billion pounds... where's my bit of this £630m council house? 22/03/13 VIEW FULL ARCHIVEThe Spaniard’s complaint that a section of supporters have created a toxic atmosphere at the club is also correct. Whether it actively undermines the performance of the team is a matter of debate, but the jeers, banners and mood of seething animosity generated certainly cannot help.
At best, they are a distraction; at worst, a huge disincentive.
Yet Benitez was described as having set off on an ‘uncontrolled rant’ in midweek for repeating what every observer, journalist and objective fan has been saying since he walked through the door.
It wasn’t some wild tirade. It was a carefully measured two fingers aimed at the idiocy of his situation. But the resulting ire of some Chelsea supporters is just as illogical as much of what has happened at Stamford Bridge this season.
The fans slaughtering Benitez appear to be strangely unhappy he has noticed their abuse and reacted to it. Funnier still, they seem offended he is offended by their efforts to offend him, I think. It’s all a bit confusing. So the stadium will boil with self-righteous indignation from fans scorning their manager, and they will call for the dismissal of a man who has already said it’s ‘a waste of time’ as he is leaving soon anyway, which essentially proves his point.
For some his departure cannot come soon enough, but what would Chelsea really gain by removing Benitez now? If owner Roman Abramovich makes another change, the likelihood is he will replace his caretaker with that regular nightwatchman and part-time Nosferatu stunt double, Avram Grant. How is that any better?
Benitez is right about something else, too. Many decisions taken at Chelsea of late have been nothing less than ‘massive mistakes’. Add to that some horribly damaging race rows and strange sackings.
The only certainty is Abramovich will walk into the Chelsea boardroom any day now and announce: ‘I’ve changed my mind.’
Waiting in the wings: Abramovich and former Blues boss Avram Grant remain closeDM.has('rcp',"twitter"); Loading tweets...
The reply should be: ‘Will it work any better this time?’, or at least it would be if the assembled suits had any sense or balls. Abramovich is always changing his mind, and the workings of the owner’s brain are a constant subject of speculation.
He stares out from the back of his executive box, rarely betraying emotion, unless it is to hail a performance by (former) striker Fernando Torres, the £50million albatross he has hung around the neck of a succession of bosses.
Usually, Abramovich wears his trademark Forrest Gump expression, seemingly clinging to the belief that football ‘is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get’.
Whatever it is, you can be pretty sure he will bite half off, spit it out and put the rest back, hoping no-one notices if he buys an even more expensive selection next time.
But the fans hankering for the return of Jose Mourinho or Roberto Di Matteo appear to forget who fired those managers in the first place. Their memory also blots out the fact that Abramovich put the Spanish boss they despise so much where he is now.
Andre Villas-Boas was another who wasn’t considered capable enough. The young tyro dared to threaten the old guard at the club and was hounded out by that cabal and many of the supporters haranguing Benitez now.
But having been betrayed by Abramovich’s decision to cave in to their demands, I’m sure that AVB is thoroughly enjoying his tussle with Chelsea for a Champions League place right now.
Flourishing: Villas-Boas seems to be enjoying life away from Abramovich at TottenhamSo who is next? Gus Poyet has been mentioned, Gianfranco Zola, too. Ray Wilkins is even in the betting, the same Wilkins that mystifyingly was fired by the club without warning in November 2010. Mourinho, as ever, is on the list. He makes sure of that. But why not just give the job to John Terry. ‘Captain, leader, legend’ says the banner. Let’s see what he’s made of?
Terry is reportedly the man fronting up to Benitez on the training ground, or urging the club to extend the contracts of other players on the books, or being cast as the man who ‘runs the dressing room’, the character any incoming boss needs to get onside if he wants to survive.
One adoring internet fan page describes Terry as: ‘The man who bleeds blue, the man who is a walking-talking symbol of the club itself — Mr. Chelsea.’
Why not try him? Let’s see how the dressing-room politics work then when Terry’s in direct contact with Abramovich about his own job, rather than someone else’s. Let’s see how long Mr Chelsea’s marriage lasts.
Mr Chelsea: Some fans want to see captain John Terry in a player-manager tole
Catch Giggs if you can
Ryan Giggs clocks up his 1,000th senior match as a professional footballer on Saturday having signed a new one-year contract to continue playing at Manchester United into his forties.
It is an extraordinary story — one that is turning out to be as long as Lord Of The Rings — of dedication, professionalism and sublime talent.
I was inside the Bernabeu when the Real Madrid crowd rose to acclaim Giggs’ entrance as a United substitute. It was a glorious moment of collective sportsmanship during a fierce Champions League battle, and a timely reminder of the respect Giggs commands across the globe.
Evergreen: Giggs on Friday signed another one-year extension at Manchester UnitedWear a daff...
You will see a number of sporting figures wearing yellow daffodil pins on their lapels this weekend. The managers, players and officials are supporting the Marie Curie Great Daffodil Appeal, a charity campaign that raised £6.68million for cancer care last year.
So buy one too and support a fabulous cause.
If you need it, the Twitter hashtag is #wearadaff.
History usually wears rose-tinted glasses and we often fail to appreciate an individual’s gifts until they are gone. But there is no question the Welshman now ranks alongside the club’s all-time greats of Sir Bobby Charlton, George Best, Denis Law, Duncan Edwards, Eric Cantona and Bryan Robson. It’s not even an argument. Not with 33 medals on the table.
So I was going to suggest that you hurry along to a game to catch sight of 39-year-old Giggs while you still can.
He is approaching that age where people start to worry about the phenomenon of ‘ear hair’, restaurant menus suddenly appear to be printed in letters the size of bacteria, and doctors approach you with long plastic tubes saying things like ‘this will only cause mild discomfort’.
But, now I think about it, there’s no need to rush. The way the evergreen Giggs is going you probably have half a dozen years or so yet.
Joey Barton distinguished his performance for Marseille against Paris Saint-Germain by repeatedly calling Zlatan Ibrahimovic ‘big nose’.
He also added an appropriate mime, just in case his opponent proved unable to comprehend the insult.
Class apart: Barton couldn't stop Ibrahimovic seeing off Marseille on Wednesday nightHeads up...
Air traffic controllers imposed a no-fly zone over Staffordshire today.
Planes crossing the UK have been re-routed amid fears that the match between Stoke City and West Ham United could be a threat to passing aircraft.
In French, big nose translates as gros nez. Or, as Barton would have it in his Franglais: ‘beeeeeg noozze?’
Of course, Barton is factually correct. Ibrahimovic does have a big nose. In fact, during the match, the striker could have lit a cigar and shielded it from the rain under his considerable hooter, such was the difference in class.
For the record, Ibrahimovic scored twice. PSG beat Marseille 2-0. And Barton is 30 years old, apparently.
It was a toss up for the honour of Least Surprising News Item Of The Month between: a) The revelation that abattoirs in Romania weren’t too fussy about what they consider to be ‘meat’ — which is hardly a shock from a place formerly known as Transylvania.
Or b) the widespread lack of amazement that greeted the announcement that snooker star and serial quitter Ronnie O’Sullivan was coming out of retirement after just 10 months.
That’s the trouble with retiring these days. In order to keep yourself in the manner to which you were accustomed in retirement, you have to work.
Back for more: O'Sullivan will defend his world title at the Crucible Stepping down: Elliott became the first black footballer to receive a CBE last month Trial by text...Paul Elliott has resigned from the Football Association after sending an abusive text to former Charlton footballer Richard Rufus.
One of the angry exchanges over a collapsed business venture contained the n-word. This exchange was private and between two black players, but it seems this is still not OK and Elliott left his post.
Someone had best inform sections of the black community using the n-word of this development since a number of rap artists and movie stars would appear to have fallen foul of a similar ‘crime’.
There is a question of context here.
I genuinely don’t know whether it is intolerable for the word to be used in a row between two black men. What I do know is Elliott has done an enormous amount of work for race relations in football. I also know that these private texts somehow appeared in a national newspaper, which is pretty despicable in itself.
Elliott’s departure is a loss to the FA, but not to the game, as I’m sure he will be back soon.
More... It's official! There really is Madness at Chelsea as Benitez remains on the ropes Giggs signs new one-year deal to keep on playing for Manchester United beyond 40th birthday O'Sullivan eyes title takeaway! Rocket Ronnie gets the 'buzz' back after playing with Chinese delivery driver Elliot misses out on six-figure salary at Chelsea after N-word rant at Rufus
