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Is Jose Mourinho ready to play Russian roulette with Roman Abramovich?

Scraping a draw against Tottenham reserves shows the paucity of tactical awareness and management skills at the west London club.

by midnightjester on 13 March 2007

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Roman Abramovich: At odds with The Special One (gettyimages.com)

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Chelsea's cracks extend, widen and start to look positively canyon-like. Jose Mourinho on one side with some players, Russian roubles czar Roman Abramovich on the other, and the Grand Kenyon between them. The downfall of next year's Chelsea, already predicted by this pundit, seems to be starting early to avoid the rush.

Much has been made of Mourinho's "inspired" changes to get Chelsea back into the game against Spurs at the weekend - but '"inspired" is not a word used oft in conjunction with a team that reads like the Who's Who of football yet plays football like an accountant hedging his bets. The game was changed by Martin Jol making uninspired but unfortunately necessary changes to an injury-ravaged Spurs rather than some tactical genius on the part of The Special One. In fact, The Special One is starting to sound more like a snyde euphemism these days rather than a lauding compliment.

Much was made of how Chelsea were missing John Terry, but on the day Spurs were missing five of their most important players of recent times in Paul Robinson, Ledley King, Pascal Chimbonda, Jermaine Jenas and Robbie Keane. Chelsea went 3-1 down by half-time, outshone for class and effort, to Tottenham Reserves plus Aaron Lennon and Dimitar Berbatov.

The era of "special" uninspired, dull football will finally come to a close at the end of this year at Abramovich's behest. Mourinho brings nothing to the Premiership apart from whining and designer stubble, which went out in the 1980s. They were better off with Claudio Ranieri who was at least a gentleman, a subject the hamlet of Chelsea used to know something about.

I would be surprised to see any additional silverware in the Chelsea cabinet at the end of the year. Perhaps a wooden plinth with 2006-2007 emblazoned on it and a small silver bullet signifying the end of "specialness" in the English Premiership. It's the end of an era (and not a very long one at that).

Is Midnight Jester being a tad harsh on Chelsea? Send your views to Sportingo.

Comments (8)

by Simon Black on March 13, 2007

Let's call it a draw -- they are both on their way outta town.

by name on March 13, 2007

"The game was changed by Martin Jol making uninspired but unfortunately necessary changes" Not necessary at all. There was 25 minutes left. Spurs had 2 home games coming up against pretty much beaten (Braga need to score 4 to win) or weak (Watford) opposition. It made sense to keep Berbatov and Lennon on to stop Chelsea sending all their players forward in attack and then rest them for the above-mentioned 2 games rather than take them off, allow Chelsea to hurl everything at us, and risk having to play another game. Stop trying to make excuses for throwing away the lead.

by Matt on March 13, 2007

You are truly a fool!

by Sir Cecil on March 13, 2007

The trouble with the internet is that it gives a voice to untalented, self-indulgent writers like "Midnight Jester." It is not that I disagree or agree with his sentiments.. it's simply that they are presented not with wit or creativity, but with lack of intellect and an abundance of playground sarcasm. The end result is a few paragraphs that add up to nothing of value whatsoever. It is drivel, pure and simple. This is not the level of writing that visitors to this site should be subjected to. Please respect your readers by providing better.

by Knight on March 13, 2007

This guy should concentrate on reading, not writing. Pitiful

by ZOLA-MAGICIAN on March 14, 2007

ROMAN ABRAMOVICH IS NOT JUST A CHELSEA GOD BUT A FOOTBALL GOD TOO, TO ALL SMALLER CLUBS. He loves this sport and he is doing a lot for the development of the infrastructure of the Russian game. HE IS INJECTING HIS OWN MONEY IN THE INDUSTRY OF WORLD FOOTBALL TO ALL CLUBS THAT ARE BUYING THEIR PLAYERS AND ALSO MAKING FOOTBALL INTERESTING AGAIN WITH MORE COMPETITION IN THE LEAGUE & EUROPEAN CUP.

by midnightjester on March 14, 2007

Zola- Magician: If Abramovich is your version of a God you have bigger problems than what I have written. Zola was cool and a better choice as a potential God. Knight: the difference between the talented and the critics is the talented try to create whereas the critics merely scathe about how bad they think it is. Sir Cecil: lots of wit and creativity in your riposte, I am awed...try harder to be interesting if you want to make a point. Matt: I am, indeed, a fool after all I suffer from football jingoism and scream in support of 11 grown men kicking an inflated piece of plastic around a pitch, as all of us do. We are all fools Matt. Hence the handle. 'Name': I didn't say the changes were unnecessary, but the replacements were uninspired as, indeed, his tactics were before his winning run. Read the article properly before you comment. Get a name. Simon: indeed- I agree and hope it to be true.