Lamps shines light on the attitude we need

COMETH the hour (of need), cometh the man. I’m not going to write another eulogy in praise of Lampard but I have to thank him for giving me one of those brain-melting celebrations as a fan last Saturday.

You know what it’s like when a goal like that slams into the back of the net, and into your memory forever. A goal that is both unexpected but so prayed for; so late, late in stoppage time and so important that something in you snaps . . . and you go bonkers.

After the last few weeks it’s as if every fan poured out all their frustration and screamed their relief and the roar was just immense, primitive and fantastic.

And to those morons that missed it by leaving early — good; you don’t deserve that feeling of elation and save the excuses.

Peter Kenyon, too, left his seat with 15 minutes remaining. Perhaps he was off to write a P45. Roman, too, has previous convictions in this respect, famously storming out of Villa Park a week or so before the departure of Mourinho. Perhaps among his hangers-on he needs a “how to be a proper football fan” advisor.

Rule No.1: never leave a game early, especially if we are losing.

Rule No.2: NEVER leave a . . . and so on.

This last week has seen the fightback from Chelsea FC start — a fightback from the manager, the team, and the owner, and each of those is well over-due.

As much I was underwhelmed by Scolari’s appointment, one thing that I was looking forward to was seeing this man of the reputed short fuse letting rip at Press, players, opposition managers or indeed anyone that managed to get his goat. What we have had instead is a kind old uncle. You’ll win friends that way, but precious little else; he may finally have sussed that.

It is more than time that Didier Drogba was finally taken to task. Every year we have had to put up with him gobbing off to anyone that would care to listen about him wanting to leave Chelsea; and every year he has to have his ego stroked just so he can give us half a dozen great games and a great deal more average and frustrating ones. It’s an annual tradition that I and most other supporters could do without.

As great a talent as he can be, the unrest he causes in the dressing room and to morale now outweighs any contribution he makes.

If Drogba gets his head down and earns his place back in the squad, then great — everyone’s a winner. If he decides that he is beyond criticism and continues his sulking, bitching and moaning, I hope that Scolari has the strength of his convictions and puts him up for sale. Hard times call for hard measures and if Drogba isn’t helping he is hindering.

As we know, newspapers in England seem to operate on the thesis that if they repeat a lie often enough, it becomes accepted fact. Abramovich has never said that he was looking to sell Chelsea; neither have any of the people that work for him — yet most papers for some time have used innuendo, anonymous “sources” and hyperbole to report just that — over-egging the lie by throwing in statements about “falling out of love” with football, etc. Well Roman has had enough and who can blame him, Chelsea announcing that they are suing the Sunday Times is sending out a clear message — to the media, to the team and to the supporters.

So all in all it’s been an unusually upbeat week for Chelsea fans. The away game at Southend was a lively trip down memory lane of how football used to be. Even when the Shrimpers went 1-0 up, the Chelsea faithful found their sense of gallows humour again and the repartee of songs was very funny.

The win raised spirits too.

Then as previously stated, there are few things more joyous than a 93rd minute winner, especially when a couple of our youth players gave a good account of themselves with Di Santo doing what Drogba should be doing and winning a decisive far-post header and Stoch putting in quality crosses from the wing. Both led to goals.

But you know me — glass always half empty. We must not get carried away; after all, Southend was just, well, Sarfend and Stoke are languishing in the relegation zone. There is still much to work on in training and another long term injury was the last thing we needed. We must be careful that our current defensive frailties don’t get into the heads of our players as these things are often difficult to shift. Cech looks a nervous wreck and who can blame him with what’s going on in front of him.

We should all follow the example of the immaculate Lampard. Keep our heads, keep working, keep the faith and remember we have players that many teams covet.

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