Blues’ final shot at redemption
That match not only denied owner Roman Abramovich a chance to fulfil his dream of turning Chelsea into European champions but also saw the club’s image dragged through the mire once more as Didier Drogba ranted at referee Tom Henning Ovrebo and then swore into television cameras in front of a worldwide audience of millions.
The episode, which saw Chelsea, Drogba and Jose Bosingwa all charged by UEFA, hangs like a dark cloud over the club as they head for Wembley because there have been too many similar incidents over the years.
Jose Mourinho effectively lost his job at Stamford Bridge after his aggressive attitude and combustible nature proved a PR disaster and hampered the club’s bid to overtake the likes of Barcelona, AC Milan and Real Madrid as the world’s favourite club, despite success on the field. The appointment of Avram Grant, regarded as a softer touch, as Mourinho’s successor provided the opposite problem — plenty of diplomacy but no trophies — and the arrival of Luiz-Felipe Scolari was an even bigger mistake.
In Guus Hiddink, at least, Chelsea have found the perfect balance of managerial genius and political diplomacy but Drogba’s ugly behaviour against Barcelona means Carlo Ancelotti — who this summer will almost certainly become Chelsea’s sixth manager in two years — still has an image problem to contend with when he finally arrives in London. And it’s one that can be eased somewhat by a stylish — and trouble-free — victory over Everton in an FA Cup Final being transmitted to almost every country on earth.
“The image of a club is very important worldwide,” admitted GuusHiddink, who will say goodbye to Chelsea tomorrow when he flies to Moscow to continue his ‘other’ job as coach of the Russian national team.
“There is always this up and down in winning a trophy but the overall image is important in the world of football. If you see Barcelona the image of the club worldwide is very attractive. They have a way of playing and they are committed to it.
“For us it will be a big achievement if the team can lift the Cup. It’s recognised worldwide as one of the most beautiful cups to have. And that, of course, is good for your image too.
“As for Drogba, he has apologised. And whatever happens on Saturday I don’t think he will explode in the same way he did after the Barcelona game.
“I think we have seen where it came from. The reaction was not good — we talked a lot about that. But it came from the same feeling everyone had about this injustice. People react differently and he reacted in a way he shouldn’t have and he knows that. I don’t think that will happen a second time.”
Interestingly, Hiddink believes Chelsea are winning their battle for the hearts and minds of the world’s football fans despite, and perhaps even because of, their performances against Barcelona.
It’s easy to position Chelsea as the injured party in Champions League terms after seeing so many decisions go against them and although Drogba’s snarling grimace is not the face they want to present to the world, it certainly put the club in the spotlight.
Hiddink added: “What I had as a reaction from my time here — not just in England but from abroad where Chelsea was not that popular in some countries — is that people are changing their mind, they are growing to like Chelsea more and more. It is recognised now as a big club.
“The way the team presented itself in recent months is what people recognise. The way of playing, the character, the fighting spirit and every now and again the good play.”
Captain John Terry, who instigated a whipround in the Chelsea squad to buy Hiddink a farewell present, certainly believes Chelsea have the potential not only to beat Everton today and secure their first trophy in two years but eventually to get back the kind of constant success enjoyed under Mourinho. But he has warned it will require a period of calm under a single manager to achieve it.
He said: “I think it would be nice to get that and it’s just a shame we’re not going to get that with Guus. We’ve all asked him to stay — I gave up after the 20th time when I kept getting the same answer! But we totally understand his commitment to Russia.
“But in future it would be nice to get that year-after-year consistency with a manager and a group of players — to have a settled team and a settled management as well.
“With the squad of players we’ve got and what’s been happening over the last few years we owe it to ourselves and we owe it to our fans and to Roman to win this weekend. He’s paid an awful lot of money into the football club and with the squad of players we’ve got, he deserves to be winning things.
“And after that it’s really important over the next couple of years we get back into that spell of winning trophies, get a settled manager and move on as a group of players.”
As usual, it’s fighting talk from Terry and those sentiments will almost certainly be echoed by Chelsea fans across the world. Including a very special one watching somewhere in Italy.
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