Avram Grant’s worries do not seem to be subsiding, with Chelsea experiencing some sort of a player rebellion, John Terry having a cat fight with the assistant manager and Frank Lampard finally beginning to show the player he is – a poor one.

Add to that Ashley Cole’s confusion over his private life and football career and Petr Cech’s obvious lack of form, which granted Spurs their lucky bauble in the Carling Cup final, and Chelsea are supposedly a club in CRISIS.

So, who should step in and solve this? Who is going to come in and put Lampard, Terry and Cole back on the straight and narrow? Who will guide them to a Champions League final in Moscow this May, with a chance of winning the greatest club trophy in the world? Who will mastermind the brand of attacking, entertaining football that Roman Abramovich yearns for?

‘I have said it before and I will say it again ... the man to provide the umbrella to shield Chelsea away from such pejorative influences is Steve McClaren.’


I have said it before and I will say it again ... the man to provide the umbrella to shield Chelsea away from such pejorative influences is Steve McClaren.

He should have taken charge of Liverpool. Peter Crouch, who flourished under his international reign, would have become one of the most feared strikers in the world and maybe,Macca could have persuaded the brilliant Michael Owen to make an emotional return to Anfield.

But the Kop missed their chance – so let us hope Chelsea will not. They deserve a good manager, who, may I remind you, has won the League Cup and provided swashbuckling entertainment en route to the UEFA Cup final in 2006 and through England's Euro 2008 qualifying games.

McClaren is the man to calm Stamford Bridge’s troubled waters – maybe his ride with Chelsea will be third time lucky!

www.samir-brandao.blogspot.com