Blue moon rises in the east for Big Phil

WHAT A thoroughly enjoyable week this has been.

The Cluj trip was a classic. Our decision to fly to Budapest and drive was fully justified as we saw some beautiful scenery in both Hungary and Romania.

Not the easiest of routes, but by far the most interesting I’d wager. We hurtled through Hungary thanks to their excellent and empty motorways, but crossing the border (no more than a cursory look at our passports) the drive became a whole different ball game.

It’s single lane virtually all the way to Cluj, and that single lane is besieged with enormous articulated lorries which hack along at around 120kph. Not content with this, they attempt to overtake each other on blind corners with similarly huge vehicles coming the other way. Throw into the mix a horse and cart every few hundred yards and ancient women leading the odd cow or two along the carriageway and you can understand why my nerves were in shreds before we had even half completed our journey.

Eventually we reached Cluj and wasted no time in finding our way to the Unirii Square where many other Chelsea fans had already based themselves. It’s a very pleasant place and although it still has that post-communist feel to it, the locals were very friendly and seemed very honoured that we had made the trip to their city.

As we enjoyed our meal in an outstanding restaurant, at the next table was a group of well-known journalists and we eavesdropped as they berated the behind-the-scenes set up at Stamford Bridge. “Love the team, hate the administration” was the message. We put them straight on a couple of things and then headed back to the square where dozens of Romanian TV teams had gathered to capture “the Chelsea invasion.”

Our support had arrived in force and we became the main focal point of the city. Not only the locals but the mayor himself turned out to welcome us. There isn’t much to say about the game as it was so awful, but as one Chelsea fan said . . . it’s a good job we don’t come for the football.

And as much as that game was dreadful, the match against Villa was sublime. The 2-0 score-line belies the lesson given to the midlanders. Despite our ever-growing injury list we played some stunning football and if this is a taster of what Scolari is going to bring us then we are in for a treat indeed. It was also great to shut the Villa fans up as they have been getting a bit too cocky of late. You can’t turn on the radio or log in to a message board without having to listen or read about how great they (the supporters) and their team and their manager are.

So let’s put a few of their myths to bed.

Their support: they can have nearly 3,000 tickets at Chelsea — they took 1,400 and failed to sell out even that allocation. A friend summed them up perfectly when he referred to them as the “Geordies of the Midlands” referring to their delusions of grandeur.

Their manager: during their brief 10 minutes of singing, they referred to him as the “Special One”. Well he didn’t look very special to me, not in the way they meant anyway, and Scolari seemed to have the measure of his tactics right from the off. Their team: outplayed in every department and this was with a third choice centre-back playing for us, no Drogba, Essien or Deco and a less-than-fit JT and Ballack.

A few words about Ivanovic — the man who many of us thought was a commodity being used in some sort of dodgy dealing. Two games played now and he looks the business. Versatile, strong, brave and talented, an excellent addition.

As a final comment, as if Tottenham aren’t in enough trouble already I see that they have been linked with Avram Grant for the seemingly soon-to-be-vacant Director of Football role. Now I always said that I wouldn’t wish him on anyone but this really does seem like a match made in heaven. If it does come to fruition, Ramos should watch his back.

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