There’s a pregnant pause in the away end. A sudden hush,
like we know what’s coming. Sure enough Azpilicueta is outmuscled and the ball
squirts past him at the edge of our box. Romelu Lukaku turns Gary Cahill inside
out several times before almost taking the dark blue net off the goal frame and
sending three sides of Goodison into screeching jubilation.
“If you know your history!”
He does the same again a few minutes later and we know our
hopes of a cup final to round off our wretched write-off of a season are over.
Deep breath and step out into the suddenly dark streets of Liverpool. Raise
your voice, “Champions of Europe, you’ll never sing that”, anything for
ammunition. You know you’re no longer singing for fun, just trying to restore a
little bit of pride for Chelsea.
Hardly back on the coach before my boozy haze is a dull
headachy hangover, feeling tired and empty. Sore throat and a wobbly head
chugging back to Euston on a train so old that trainspotters punctuate the end
of each station. Their flashbulbs going off as we roll through. That’s it then.
The last throw of the dice ended up with snake eyes. A make or break week for
Chelsea Football Club’s season that broke it once and for all. The anti-climactic
performance at home to PSG was followed by a similarly toothless performance
away to Everton, with just a free scarf to show for it.
Our attention turns to the remaining handful of league
games, and really, to what Conte (as everyone is so sure) can achieve next
season. Chelsea tend to do well with an Italian manager, after all, and there
seemed to be a fresh optimism in the air. Teenagers on Twitter trade their
dream line ups. Why some of these superstars will want to come to a midtable
side likely without European football of any sort is anyone’s guess, though.
Whoever comes in faces an uphill struggle, make no mistake.
Not just regarding the quality of our players but the atmosphere in the
dressing room and in the stands. Dare I call it a palpable discord. I actually
saw someone on Twitter pipe up and saw that Conte not coming in would serve the
board right and that they should be left in the mess they created. It’s almost
as if the old guard, the “saw Chelsea lose 6-0 away at Rotherham in 1981” old
guard, don’t care so much about results. They were here long before anyone else
at the club and will be here long afterwards. No, what matters is that the
players care, the players fight for the badge, the players “get” what Chelsea
are about. This is becoming rarer and rarer though, and has been lacking in spades
this year. The desire for a home-grown player, a Harry Kane or a Ross Barkley
of our own almost seems to eclipse the desire for the team to do well for some.
While Loftus-Cheek has been given a hefty new deal and declared he wants to
stay at the club, what does that really mean in modern football?
I think that’s why our respective worlds fell apart a few
weeks ago when JT announced that he’ll most probably be gone at the end of the
season. Tel, the one who started cleaning boots at Harlington and hung about
until he was lifting trophies on a regular basis. Always counted on to
celebrate a victory just like us in the stands: teeth gritted until veins bulge
out his neck, pumping the air underarm and thumping the badge on his chest as
he looks to us in the away end. He’s that link between us and our hugely
successful global brand of a football club. He’s the last of my Chelsea, as he is for a lot of
others.
This Chelsea line up has been accused of lacking stomach,
spines and hearts until you’re not sure what body parts they’ll have left for
next season. Unfortunately, you can count on the atmosphere of mercenarism
increasing if the club captain goes. We’re currently in a laughable Catch-22 of
a situation, with the club leaving JT’s fate for the next manager to decide,
but apparently being in no apparent rush to formally appoint anyone.
The next Chelsea manager, Conte or not, will have a battle
on his hands. To get the team firing and back up to where it’s expected to be,
but also to appease an increasingly alienated match going fan base. I just hope
he knows his history.
@JJReid13
