We are living through difficult times at Chelsea. There is so much uncertainty and so little stability at the club and it is only results that can allow us to create a steadier ship during this storm. We seem to be being hit from all angles and it is hoped that a couple of decent wins will lead to a bit more calm.
Injuries are obviously one of the problems that we are having to deal with. I mentioned my concerns about John Terry last week and before you know it, he suddenly finds himself in front of the surgeon again and therefore missing a few more matches.
There is no doubt that his body is telling him to have some rest and I hope for once that he listens to it. Similarly with Ashley Cole who finds that he will be missing for the next few weeks as he twisted an ankle playing for England. (The unfortunate thing is that his understudy, Wayne Bridge, cannot play as he is presently suspended for three matches having been sent off playing for the reserves!) Kalou, on the other hand, is still suffering from his hamstring strain that he picked up after scoring the winner against Bolton.
Self imposed injuries are another worry for us. It is very strange that as soon as there is a little gap in the Premiership programme, the foreign players and in particular the French speaking ones, go off on a tangent. This used to be the case with Gallas when he played for us, and at times with Makelele, and was this week with Didier Drogba who came out with his silly outburst. The French press is incredibly pro Arsenal for obvious reasons, and they have a tendency to ensure that players who are involved with other clubs are worked up in this way. It is not hard to imagine why Drogba said what he said but it is the timing that is ridiculous. He knows that he is not able to be transferred at this time of the season and having now played for Chelsea in the Champions League, he will be a lot less attractive a purchase at present than he will be at the end of the season. Obviously he is frustrated at all the changes that have happened at the club this season but what is the purpose of this bit of madness at this stage of the season? What is more, he is going to be absent for between four and six weeks in January as he will be playing for his country in the African Nations Cup. So why speak out now?
The answer is that God only knows, and he has not told anyone! I sometimes feel that some of these players simply love to say something especially when there are no matches on and their timing is not always perfect. I hope that he can be encouraged to do what he is best at and that is scoring great goals. Please Didier, leave the paper talk to others.
The Premiership is back again this weekend and I am writing this blog before the Middlesborough match. We have been very disappointing in our last two matches at their stadium but I have a feeling that this year it will be different. We lost 3-0 a couple of years ago and were seemingly cruising 1-0 last year before two late goals crushed us. It is extraordinary that Grant has been our manager for six matches so far and only one of these matches has been at home. He started off at Manchester United at Old Trafford and has only had Fulham at home to deal with. We have a new backroom set up being put in place with the introduction of Ten Cate as one of Grant’s assistants and to be quite honest I do not know enough about him at present to know what difference he is going to make.
The return of Lampard is obviously another factor for us. He is in “bad mood bear” mood at the moment as he feels that nobody loves him. His England place has been taken away from him and he is taking a lot of the flak for his county’s disappointing performances. It does seem extraordinary to me that Steve Gerrard can play as badly as he did against Estonia and Russia and yet not have anyone on his back. Barry was apparently the man of the match against Estonia. Really ? He was the best player simply because he was not Lampard. The bulk of the England supporters are from West Ham and are behind all the stupidity that is going on. Lampard is a great player and scores lots of goals and I hope that he will now be able to turn his anger and disappointment into something positive for Chelsea. I hope that he can recreate his form for Chelsea and that he is able to show everyone what they are missing. He also was very disappointed by Mourinho’s dismissal but I do not remember seeing any articles by him in the press. He shut up and will wait for the appropriate moment to put forward his views. He will probably leave Chelsea along with Drogba at the end of the season but there is no reason why we cannot plan for an orderly succession. At the moment we are very dependent on these two players for the bulk of our goals but if we manage to organise ourselves properly, we can plan for the future.
Planning is not something that the Chelsea management have been very good at to date, but this is a moment for them to earn their money. I hope that they are up to it.