Chelsea Terrace Talk – Irish Examiner Article By Trizia
Not quite sure where to begin to be honest.
Just because we’re paranoid, it doesn’t mean they’re not out to get us.
Yes, I can hear you lot already, here she goes again with her talk of conspiracies and agendas etc. this isn’t about conspiracies as such, it’s far more subtle than that.
Most Chelsea fans won’t have had any issue with Matic ‘s two yellow cards – what we object to is the quite staggering inconsistencies we witnessed during the match. Not that you’ll hear of the constant West Ham fouls allowed by the referee, nor of their surrounding the ref demanding Matic be sent off (not that the official actually needed any encouragement) – West Ham committed ten fouls, Chelsea committed twelve – yet they get one booking and we get seven? Then let’s look at the disallowed goal – prior to the popular TV highlights package programme we all tune into on a Saturday night, I saw a screenshot from a foreign channel which showed that Fabregas was (just) on for the disallowed goal, yet when we watch aforementioned TV programme, the footage has been frozen one frame further – allegedly showing a West Ham knee making him off. If it took a number of freeze frames to try and distinguish whether he was offside or not and pundits still couldn’t agree how could the lino have given offside – where was the benefit of the doubt?
The fact of the matter is that Chelsea and Mourinho are being treated differently by the FA and referees – whether that is circumstance of their own past actions is neither here or there. Imagine if Mourinho had grabbed a player around the throat as Nigel Pearson did – does anyone really believe he would have escaped punishment? Be honest now. How about if Jose had pushed Wenger and not the other way round? Mourinho was fined £10,000 for bringing the game into disrepute by using “sarcasm” in a post-match interview – even though the FA admitted that his comments did not call into question the integrity of the referee – yet Wenger, can call a referee weak and naïve and not be penalised – where is the consistency?
And let’s not even get into the fact that an Arsenal fan is often on the FA boards meting out bans and fines to Arsenal’s rivals….
Some (including some Chelsea fans) may say “well why doesn’t he just shut up” – but why should he? Why should he let these constant injustices go – it’s not within his character to do so – and I for one am glad that he keeps demonstrating what a polluted, out-of-touch, bunch of megalomaniacs the FA have become.
All that said, I am beginning to get genuinely concerned about Mourinho’s state of mind at the moment.
He is obviously in a high pressure job, and I imagine being a manager under Abramovich ramps up the pressure immeasurably too. The performance of the team will be causing anxiety & consternation in equal measures – you then have the English media baiting you at every turn, the governing bodies picking you out for particular attention and rumours of a rat in the dressing room. This coupled with a gravely sick parent and rumours of further issues in his private life and you see a man on the edge.
The really sad thing is that the press seem to want him to break down – what a story that would be – picking over the remnants of a broken man – pontificating as to what could have possibly sent him over the edge.
This latest “storm” – where the papers have virtually insinuated that he assaulted a child merely for asking for an autograph – is a case in point. The truth is that two teenagers followed him for 20 minutes while filming him and constantly tried to interrupt him while he was making a private phone call. He at no time shoved, pushed or assaulted anyone – he simply tried to get past them and away from their intrusive behaviour. Just because you are the manager of Chelsea, it does not mean you are fair game in every aspect of your private life and if it was anyone else than Jose there would be universal agreement on this.
Unfortunately there are too many people who take personal delight in anything that can be used as a stick to beat Mourinho with and equally there are those within Chelsea who are more concerned with our “image” than any actual facts or mitigating circumstances – and for that reason I believe that the end is nigh as far as Jose’s second term at Chelsea is concerned.
A manager that the club did not truly back in the transfer market and a manager who has been badly let down by his players – some of whom are already making noises about leaving in the summer – yes, I’m looking at you Hazard. Particularly galling as his form is part of the problem – rather than standing up and be counted he’s fluttering his eyelashes in the direction of Madrid and using the French press to do it. Well no matter how good he is, we don’t need a player with no fight and no loyalty.
That goes for the fans too – the support at West Ham was superb – no booing, no shirking – just total full-blooded support – but if you are one of the bed-wetters crying all over social media, do us all a favour, stay at home – we only need those for the stomach for a fight. We should all be standing united behind the manager – fans, players, club – I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, he has delivered more than most of us could have ever dreamed of – we owe him – we do not, should not – turn out back on one of our own.
Posted by Trizia
(You can see all the Terrace Talk articles here)
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Well said. Us fans need to stand up and make a wall of noise from now on. Show the team they have our unequivocal support now and always. Win, draw or lose – always a Blue.
Really good article, Jose does need support from within the club and especially from Roman at this time. I do not believe he will be foolish enough to sanction Jose’s departure,given the managerial merry go round that followed his departure last time. I hope everybody understands that this particular group of players are not anywhere near the status of 2005-06 team.Does anybody really believe that any other manager can get Chelsea into the Champions league from this position. I believe the club should advise Jose not to speak his mind with regard to the FA and referees at this juncture. Issue a statement saying he will be here until the end of the season.The pressure he is feeling right now will be eased. I also agree that the man might be close to some sort of breakdown given the public and personal pressure he is under.
Excellent artical Trizia and sadly I agree that Jose won’t last very much longer. Off to Stoke tomorrow evening with a bunch of proper Chels fans. No glory hunters in our mob!
Excellent article trivia. It seems that between the media and the FA that anything Jose does is fair game to be reported and dragged through the mud. Even when the second goal went in on Saturday all they could print was a picture of Jose with a caption . Get me out of here. I also think you, re right about hazard , he,s playing like he is already gone from us in his head. He should take a look at Willian and learn what it,s like to put in a shift when things are not going right. If they do,nt want to play for the jersey let them go no matter who they are. And if opposing fans Ca,nt see how anti Chelsea some refs are that’s their problem not our persecution complex. Other managers can say what they like but if Jose says boo he gets fined. We will get better its only a matter of time and we,ll see who has silverware at the seasons end.
“the governing bodies picking you out for particular attention”
This is utterly ridiculous and you’ve obviously been sucked into Jose’s mind games hook, line and sinker.
This is exactly what Mourinho asked for a few days ago, honest journalism, if I could, I would make this article went into every football fans inbox.
As an unbiased Chelsea fan, we are all suffering with the unrelenting media and unrelenting inconsistencies of the FA. I will never understand how an organisation like FA operate without allowing any criticisms and operate like the giant Dinosaur dictator, blatantly punishing Mourinho for letting the relentless stresses and lnjustices of his profession, get to him, with very little or no support from any of his colleagues (other coaches). He surely deserves another 10 years at Chelsea and I hope he gets through this test.
Thanks a lot for your for your article, I have a bit more belief now.
Sums up exactly the thoughts of a lot of us. The journos on NBC sports in the US are also pretty biased, Soxy quite often sides with them (shame on you Grahame) Arlo White is the worst commentator and clearly hates Chelsea (typical Gooner). I send tweets to his Twitter a/c pointing this out every time he makes negative comments. I hope JM continues to refuse to give press conferences, SAF did that and got away with him.
Well written article I’m tired of main stream media writing nonsense week in week out about Chelsea the witch-hunt carries let’s stand tall
Like all blues fan, sick of all the crap that’s written about us. How did Chan not get booked first half for two horrendous tackles, going back to the Everton game, Naismith should have gone for blatantly kicking Ivanovic before he got on the scoreboard. Fast forward to Saturday, all the focus was on Diego but what about the one he copped from a flying elbow before he took his own payback. As for Clattenburg, if the FA doesn’t drop him to the championship after the Lucas farce, well enough said. Sure we’re not playing well, but we certainly are copping it from all sides, it’s just a throwback to the 60’s when everyone was onto Docherty’s little diamonds. Just hope Jose and the boys stay strong.