Abramovich will learn very hard lesson next season

LET’S have a quick run down; Frank Lampard is joining Juventus; Frank Lampard is joining Barcelona; Frank Lampard is joining Real Madrid; with José; and Essien; and Drogba.

Mourinho is going to Inter Milan; Abramovich is selling Chelsea because he is bored; Abramovich is selling Chelsea because he is skint; Abramovich is selling Chelsea because he wants to fund the Olympics in Russia.

I am sure I’ve missed a couple (of dozen).

I support Chelsea — not players, not owners, not managers and none of them are bigger than the club.

What do I personally believe? Lampard and Terry will be going nowhere. José will be going somewhere. Abramovich is going nowhere, and I predict he will learn a very hard lesson next season. It’s a nightmare writing this prior to the Tottenham FA Cup replay on Monday night. For me, the result has a lot to do with how I will perceive this season. I had a suspicion that last Saturday’s game against the Blades was going to be a walk in the park and I was unfortunately proved correct.

I wanted the team to work hard and prepare for a battle against Tottenham. But instead we scored three nice goals, could have scored a hatful more and spent large parts of the game playing keep-ball.

Joe Cole is finally back training and what a joy it is to see him. I do wonder, if he had been fit this season, whether the Roman and José falling out would have happened. Abramovich apparently craves pretty football — Cole provides that in spades. His creativity has been missed and had he played this season we would have seen Shevchenko settle more quickly and score more.

Without players like Joe Cole, you get games like last Wednesday’s at the City of Manchester Stadium. It’s the kind of performance that will not have helped José’s cause, but then I don’t think he cares what Abramovich thinks any more — a win is a win is a win and it’s hard to argue with that.

Ballack’s performance actually led to a fight between Chelsea fans a couple of games ago, which is bizarre because he is beginning to get better. He is not a pretty player to watch. He can be rather clumsy and his passing has not reached great heights. His reputation means very little outside of his adoring Germany, but he is starting to do a job for us. He is beginning to break up opposition play, tracking back and clearing the lines when needs be. And he is increasingly allowing team-mates to get into good goal scoring positions by out muscling those that are there to stop them. And he’s scoring the odd goal or two. What’s that cliché about the Germans? Oh, yes . . . “efficient.”

As I am making predictions I will wager that he will be one of our best players next season, although the Chelsea faithful historically overlook central midfielders with the notable exception of Lampard.

Speaking of best players, I am having to think very carefully about my vote in the Chelsea Player of the Year poll.

The obvious choice is Drogba — awesome this season — but I am in a “yeah, but he’s a striker, scoring goals is his job” frame of mind.

Then there’s Cech. I was convinced that he would be a shadow of the player he was before his life-threatening injury. In the 14 games since his return he has conceded just eight goals in all competitions, has had seven clean sheets, and we have lost just once — his first game back against Liverpool when we had no centre halves. If José is correct (and he usually is) that Cech is worth 11 points a season, we would be five points clear. We certainly would not have lost to Middlesbrough and conceded points at home to Reading and Fulham.

A surprising choice as POTY may be Ricardo Carvalho. With the injuries to Terry and Cech he has his best-ever season showing leadership and the ability to break-out when required. It was Carvalho who equalised at Old Trafford.

But then you come to Michael Essien. Outstanding at central defence, trustworthy and dependable at fullback, and overwhelming in midfield. Humble, hard working and gives everything every time he plays.

The rise of Essien at Stamford Bridge demonstrates that although Gall-arse may have been a very good player, his temperament and whinging will always prevent him being a truly great player — and a player that supporters can take to their hearts.

Meanwhile, Gall-arse has started turning on his teammates — they are stupid apparently; they lack the killer instinct. He never could keep his gob shut when there was a reporter, particularly a French one, around. But then, being out of all competitions he does have a lot of time on his hands. Shame eh?Contact Trish on [e-mail]