Let's see if you can do any better than Rafa, Mr Chelsea
By DES KELLY
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
Waiting in the wings: Abramovich and former Blues boss Avram Grant remain close
Flourishing: Villas-Boas seems to be enjoying life away from Abramovich at Tottenham
So 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 United
Wear 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 night
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.In French, big nose translates as gros nez. Or, as Barton would have it in his Franglais: ‘beeeeeg noozze?’
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
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