Chelsea Go From Strength to Weakness

In the BBC series "Great Britons", Winston Churchill was voted the number one great Briton of all time. It is not difficult to understand why. He was one of the greatest wartime leaders the world has ever seen. Yet, when he tried to win an election post-war, the 'wartime hero' actually became a liability and, strangely, one of the reasons the Conservatives lost. Bear with RTG on this one; you'll see where we're going soon. Perhaps a more relevant example in this arena is Thierry Henry. Undoubtedly one of the finest players ever to grace the Premiership and clearly a major contributor to Arsenal's 2002 and 2004 championship winning sides. But such was the dominance of the man and his character, that what made him great actually became Arsenal's biggest weakness. You only have to look at the liberated way the younger members of the squad are playing so far this year to see the effect his leaving has had on the team. Ruud Van Nistelroy found it easier to score than not to score when Manchester United won the title in 2003. Yet, their reliance on him to score goals was exposed when his form deserted him.

Which brings us nicely on to Roman Abramovich. He was booed when he arrived at Old Trafford last Sunday by Chelsea fans. The same Chelsea fans who presumably were singing the praises of all the money he spent when he first arrived. Is it not obvious that a man who can afford to use huge sums of money to bankroll a football club will, sooner or later, become the problem rather than the solution? In the end, he is entitled to fiddle and interfere with Chelsea as much as he likes. It's his toy and he pays for it. But standing in the dressing room giving advice to Michael Essien through Andriy Shevchenko acting as interpreter must surely raise alarm bells in Chelsea circles. Ultimately, you can't really blame Chelsea fans for getting caught up in the hysteria of it all when they started winning trophies on a regular basis. But surely now Abramovich's behaviour must cause genuine Chelsea fans real concern.

He has created an environment where players feel comfortable making ludicrous demands on the club. Before John Terry became England's highest paid footballer on £131,000 a week, he requested a 'limitless parity' clause to be written in to his contract to ensure he would always be the club's top earner for a nine year period and a clause that would ensure he become manager of the club after that time. He got the first but not the second. And this is someone Chelsea fans apparently are supposed to look up to? In our opinion he isn't even as good as the sensationalist media who over-champion his cause think he is. But that debate is not for here. The point is that Abramovich created the situation where felt it was within his rights to ask for it.

Abramovich has allowed divisive behaviour and cliques to develop within the squad through his blatant favouritism toward certain members. Peter Kenyon has felt compelled to make ludicrous claims about Chelsea's ever growing "global brand" claiming 25 million worldwide fans and 2.2 million in the UK. This from the Chief Executive of a club that can barely fill half its seats for a Champions League game. But it seems the louder Roman's money talks, the less it feels the need to either tell the truth or show respect to the game it feeds.

Going back to what this blog is all about for a moment - namely Reclaim the Game. People not connected with Chelsea were able to take a more considered viewpoint when Abramovich was welcomed into our game with open arms. Most felt this was a bad thing for football supporters if it set a precedent. Which it appears to have done when you look at the number of teams being taken over by wealthy businessmen. Surely it is now time for Chelsea fans to see that the man who brought glory back to Stamford Bridge is now its biggest threat. The time for singing about "being loaded" is over because the ousting of Mourinho could just be the beginning of the end for Chelsea Football Club. And it is that kind of blatant disregard for the supporters and the sport they follow that made us begin this campaign in the first instance.

Reclaim the Game - The Weekend's Events

• Given the nationality of their owner, the release of Chelsea's 'Blue Revolution' DVD had us smacking our lips in anticipation of a tale as dramatic and world-changing as the Russian Revolution. You know how it goes. Old regime usurped by a popular uprising; people stabbed in the back; creation of a new regime worse than before which then steals all the resources; heroes of the original revolution being victimised and ousted....But sadly what did we get? John Terry playing darts in the changing room. Perhaps the Russian Revolution template would make a more accurate represenation after all.
• We wonder if Larry Grayson look-alike and new (stand-in) Chelsea manager, Avram Grant, may bring some dietary and muscle toning tips from his wife into the Chelsea dressing room. On a TV show called 'Milkshake' that she hosts in Israel, she has been known to bathe nude in chocolate and drink her own urine. Cancel that order of Lucozade Roman!
• It is our considered opinion at RTG that the over-exposure of football on TV is actually damaging the game. There is an argument to say that many of the games shown live at the moment, necessitating fixture shifts down the line are annoying and inconvenient at best. Basically, you don't need us to tell you that there is probably too much football on TV right now. Well, put slightly differently, we definitely don't need anymore. Showing Northern Ireland football (which hardly anyone even in Northern Ireland watches) was pushing it to the limit but Sky's Premier League All-Stars is really taking the biscuit. Put an empty skip out in your road and sooner or later it will be filled with rubbish. Sky TV is the television equivalent. This needless over-exposure of football on TV just to fill up the vacant skip that is Sky One is not just unnecessary but dumbs down the game and insults the intelligence of football supporters. Somebody tell us please how many people out there really watch this mindless drivel. Remember how once upon a time snooker and darts were on TV all the time? Did you know that Steve Davis was the first millionaire sportsman in this country? TV took the piss out of snooker and look what happened as a result. Football is special. For heavens sake Sky you have a responsibility and duty to keep it that way!
• McCaffrey found! Rumours abound that the hyper-active former presenter of Goals on Sunday has been spotted on Showtime Arabia (formerly known in illegal Saturday afternoon pub TV viewing circles as Al Quaeda TV) presenting their English Premiership coverage this year. Next time we're in said selected watering holes we'll look out for him.

Hat's off, Take a Bow (or not)

Player of the Week - Emmanuel Adebayor. Hard to ignore the Gunners at the moment. Adebayor's hat-trick maintains the smile back on Arsenal fans' faces. Thierry who?

Villain of the week - John Terry. Apologies if the Blues are getting it in the neck a bit this week but there's just too much ammo. JT played his own part we're told in the downfall of Jose who was forced to ask backroom staff whether there was any physical evidence to explain JT's lack of form. When JT refused to come out for the warm-up ahead of the lacklustre performance against Rosenborg, he gave his reason as "having something on my mind". What an inspiration!

Hero of the Week - Leicester City. OK we mentioned this previously but they deserve the accolade.

Cliche of the week - Not so special for 'The Special One'.

Shock of the Week - Yes, it was a shock but we've done it to death. We're going for Fernando Torres. Benitez may be keeping his powder dry for later in the season but the man who, in our opinion, is one of the most promising strikers in Europe (and Liverpool are lucky to have got him given the interest over the summer) keeping the bench warm while his team draw 0.0 at home to Birmingham is unfathomable.