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Chelsea Terrace Talk – Irish Examiner Article By Trizia

AA040001 [1]For reasons I’m not going to go into, I missed the first 45 minutes of the Liverpool game – and so missed both goals and anything of interest it seems. Frustrating really as despite Jose’s press conference protestations about playing every remaining game seriously and to win – you could see by the team selection and tactics that he wasn’t really bothered about either of those things. What was even more annoying was that Liverpool looked very ordinary indeed. Had Jose’s mind been that way inclined, he could in my opinion have orchestrated a hammering.

But he seemed happy enough to put out only a half decent side who delivered not even a half decent performance really. But then this year’s Jose model doesn’t seem to be brimming with hell-fire when it comes to Liverpool. Maybe it was just the odious Benitez which bought out the devil in him – who knows – but I have to say, this recent and continual fawning over Gerrard is beginning to turn my stomach as well as getting right on my nerves.

Before I get into it, I need to state that I don’t hate Gerrard; not saying I like him either – just that I am completely ambivalent towards him. This has nothing to do with Gerrard, in fact, it’s not even really to do with Liverpool specifically – more about rivalry and how it’s being diluted. People will argue that you can have grudging respect for players/teams and still maintain a healthy vociferous rivalry – I don’t agree – admit to admiring an oppo player over a few pints in the pub by all means, but the nauseating public display by many of my fellow fans yesterday was just wrong in my opinion. Mourinho too spent half his pre-Liverpool press conference talking about Gerrard – and has also in the past berated Chelsea fans for mocking Gerrard and that slip – that slip is exactly the kind of thing that fans do/ and should seize upon and never let it go – just as United do in terms of JT.

As a Chelsea fan it’s maddening to hear that “viva John Terry” song and as soon as United fans start singing it, we try and drown it out – that’s how an atmosphere is created. There are already too many rules (both official and spoken) which have rendered most grounds generally apathetic for all but a handful of games now – we are not far off the day where goals will be greeted with little more than polite applause, that’s if fans can raise their attention from their smart phones and Ipads.

The ovation for Gerrard by Chelsea fans as he departed the pitch actually made me cringe and feel embarrassed.

When I voiced this opinion on Twitter, I was called “unsporting” by some, said that it showed our “class” by others – pur-lease! Let me ask this – why Gerrard in particular? Why was he so deserving of that sort of reaction above some of the other talents that we have seen? Some told me that it was for his outstanding service to England – really? Did I miss all those trophies he contributed to then? Others stated that he was one of the greatest players we have seen in the English game – what? How long have they actually been watching football?

He has been a great player for Liverpool – but not even one of their best really – nowhere near Dalglish, Souness, Rush and a few others. And what about the greats from other opposition teams? Henry/Bergkamp were exceptional for Arsenal, and Giggs for United – I could go on – did we give them standing ovations? No. Can we leave this Corinthian spirit bollocks for clubs who traditionally place themselves on the moral high ground and are already well on their way to a stadium with the rocking atmosphere of an accountants convention. Yes – I’m looking at you Arsenal.

There will be some of you reading this that are thinking that I’m taking all this a bit seriously – you’re entitled to your opinion. The thing is I like being disliked, I like other clubs looking down on us, questioning our “class” – you will notice, they only do that when you’re successful. No-one gave us another thought when we were also-rans.

Given everything I’ve written though, I do have to give Gerrard credit for one thing – that despite the sycophantic (hypocritical) round of applause by many of our fans, he gave no credit whatsoever and actually had a dig in his post-match interview – good for him – he knows the rules!!

I better move on, I’ve probably upset enough of those salt-of-the-earth types who hark back to the days of jumpers for goalposts and think we should all hold hands with rival fans and give everyone a rendition of “Kum Ba Ya”

On the same sort of subject i.e. rivalry, I hope these latest stories of Cech possibly going to Arsenal or Liverpool are just paper talk.

He deserves to go to a good side – of course he does – and it’s actually quite sad to see him sitting on the subs bench week in week out; I could never wish him anything but success but we cannot/must not strengthen our rivals and Petr still has the capacity to do that despite his age.

Either way, I hope we know by the last game of the season whether it will be the last time we see this giant of the game with the Chelsea crest on his chest – because if it is – he most certainly does deserve a standing ovation by every Chelsea fan in the ground – part of the spine that won us everything. I wonder if the Sunderland fans would join in?

Posted by Trizia

CSG_10_Years_Under_1 [2](You can see all the Terrace Talk articles here) [3]

DISCLAIMER: All articles written for the Chelsea Supporters Group 2005 (CSG)  are those of the author and do not represent the views of the CSG. The views and opinions expressed are solely that of the author credited in the article. The CSG do not take any responsibility for the content of its contributors.

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