Roman banking on Goose to lay golden egg

ONE of the most damning indictments of Scolari’s reign was that even Nice Bloke Wilkins was more capable of changing a game than the World Cup winning boss as he demonstrated at Watford last Saturday.

The Brazilian-perpetrated myth that Drogba and Anelka can’t play together also seems blown out of the water and just to top off a hat trick of crowd pleasers we supporters got to see youngsters Mancienne and Stoch play and play well.

The motivation too seemed better although I’d imagine that was as much down to having Abramovich and Hiddink in the stands as anything else. The players, if rumours are to be believed, have seen off one manager, and so need to prove that the poor form of late has not been simply down to their own failings. What Guus would have seen in the first half was a dominating performance but one devoid of any cutting edge and that was largely down to no width and Anelka being played out on the wing — Scolari style.

Stoch on, Anelka up front with Drogba, 4-4-2, hat trick, job done. Easy this management lark, isn’t it Butch?

It was only Watford but the confidence was back; the players knew where to find their team mates, we had a man on the post at set pieces, we passed the ball out of defence, we over-lapped, we found room, we were actually taking shots on goal again — you could almost hear the players heave a sigh of relief. The game almost provided Goose with perfect “with Scolari, and without Scolari examples”.

So what of Goose? Is he the man to turn our fortunes round? To be honest I have no idea. He has a rather chequered career. Worryingly, like Scolari, he has managed some of the minnows of international football in South Korea, Australia and Russia and one “big” name in Holland. He has however coached in Europe, including a short stint in Spain which is an advantage although his main experience is in the Dutch league which does not come up to the standard of the Premier League.

What I do like is the fact that he is meant to be an outspoken and hard task-master and has previous form in getting rid of players if he feels they are having a detrimental effect on the team — so it will be interesting to see how he deals with “certain parties” (ie Drogba).

What will be more interesting is to see whether he tries to change our way of playing as his signature style is flamboyant and attacking. Would it be wise to try and do that if he is only temporary? Is he temporary?

Is José attempting mind games with Abramovich by saying he will come back to Chelsea one day? Is he trying to send him a not-so-subtle message to open the avenues of communication? Or was it a message to the fans saying that those avenues have already been open? If José was to return would that mean that he had learnt his lesson in Italy — that the new world order is that managers manage and owners buy, or would Abramovich have learnt the lesson that having Mourinho as manager is the nearest thing you have in this game to guaranteeing success so let him have free reign? What is important is the here and now . . . although you have to love him for still managing to get in a dig at Arsenal during an Inter Milan press conference about the Milan derby.

As far as big games go, this weekend’s could be pivotal. If we lose not only do Villa cement their place but it will no doubt give Arsenal the impetus that they have so far been lacking to leap frog us too. It was, I believe, the fear of losing the Champions League place that forced the house of cards to come falling down around Scolari’s ears and also brought Abramovich to his senses that he needed to be visible and taking an active part. So the board are under no illusions what this weekend’s game means — the fans too fully understand the possible consequences and it is now Goose’s job to ensure that the team understand too.

So, it’s a make or break weekend — good showing against Villa and then Juvé could stake Goose’s claim for the job full time. Bad showing and who knows . . . the wires between Milan and London could be reverberating to the sounds of humble pie being eaten.

But by who exactly is the intriguing question.