Why I don’t believe John Terry is racist

I CAN’T say it was one of our most convincing wins but three points and a clean sheet ensured a happy car on our way home from Blackburn.

But the result papered over some substantial cracks.

We looked like another mid-table, average team. Indeed in the first half it was as if we were going through the motions — it was depressing.

Depressing is a word which is quite apt with all things Chelsea at the moment.

Let me start by saying that I do not believe John Terry is racist and I do not believe he made a racist comment to Anton Ferdinand. Many will think I am viewing this episode with blue tinted glasses which may be partially true. As someone who has met Terry, who is aware of the many charitable acts he has performed quietly under the radar, and who has seen him remain calm and focussed despite being on the end of some quite revolting chants by opposition fans I think I am better placed to have an opinion on what kind of person he is than many others.

I may be naive. I may be proven wrong and if so — so be it, but I make no apology for assuming innocence until proven guilty. Today’s football fans are sheep — they have no minds or opinions of their own — they allow themselves to be led by the tabloids. They have confused banter with a hateful mob mentality which is fanned by not only the red-tops but by the broadsheets too now sadly.

If JT is found guilty, then he should be punished — yet even if he isn’t found guilty, we know that mud sticks and he will not be permitted to shake himself clean of this one.

Now we want an end to this whole sorry affair — whichever way it goes.

Perhaps then we can properly concentrate on games like the clash with Liverpool on Sunday week. Having read a few red message boards it seems many Liverpool fans are less than happy with the way the season is going but are loath to criticise “King” Kenny.

Of course this is always the sour side of a legend taking over at the helm of a club — invariably managers are sacked — very few leave of their own volition. If I am honest Liverpool look very much like us at the moment except that they have been out in the wilderness a little longer than we have.

In fact, their current plight should serve as a warning of where we could find ourselves should we not address some of the issues that we are currently witnessing. Those issues are — lack of stability at the back, lack of pace, blunt strike-force, and unsuitable tactics — doesn’t sound good does it? We want to believe in AVB and we understand that it takes time to instil your ideas into a team, but surely things should get better as the season goes on, not worse.

It seems to me that he doesn’t have the kind of players for the kind of football he wants to play so he has two options — change the tactics or change the team — both difficult to do as the mid-point of the season approaches.

He needs to do something because if Blackburn can get behind our high line as they did on Saturday, then I hate to imagine what a team like City with its abundance of striking talent could do to us. Finally, a small victory in Cork for the Blues. O’Keefe’s Chelsea Bar in Leitrim Street, headquarters of the city’s Chelsea Supporters Group, which has been closed for a while is due to reopen today — just in time to get plenty of beers laid in for the forthcoming Liverpool game.