I was out in a local watering-hole casually flicking my attention from the Everton game to the Evening Standard I`d acquired on my way. Between sipping at my pint of ale and questioning whether Pienaar would fit well with out team, I began thinking about Chelsea winning the Champions League. Now, I`ve thought about this a lot, I`d expect many if not all fans to have done the same for their team; the glory, the showmanship, etc. It was an article in the Standard that brought me back down to Earth though.
Ron Gourlay, the new Chief Executive at Chelsea, has begun filling Peter Kenyon`s boots to the best of his ability. He`s seen first hand the ruthlessness of departures from SW6. With the constant changes to the Board our hopes of stability rest with him now. He`s widely known to have superior marketing knowledge and with his experience at both Manure and Chelsea he appears to indeed be the “perfect man for the job”.
That phrase sticks in my throat somewhat. How often have we heard it used in relation to Managers, Playmakers, Backroom staff? Scolari was the “man for the job”, so was Grant, Hiddink for a small amount of time defined perfection, Wilkins was the one-match “perfect man”. We`ve seen a lot of hope and pressure put on managers to bring more success to this club.
So this got me thinking. If we win the Champions League this season, what will it mean?
Firstly, we`re the greatest team in Europe right? Surely that goes without saying. We could even put it on our shirts like Manure did with that Mickey Mouse World Cup.
Secondly, UEFA will suddenly declare its undying love for Chelsea and all bans will be lifted.
And thirdly, nobody would ever suggest that we`d bought the trophy? Would they?
My concerns rest with the “back-lash” we would receive even if we managed to win the whole competition. Abramovich has been tweaking his team both on and off the pitch for years now, his investments continuing to be large. We all know he`d be happy with his shiny trophy but could we throw ourselves 100% into celebrations knowing that even with money it`s taken us 5 years to win one piece of silverware?
Of course we could; we`d be the happiest fans on the planet and no one would be able to take it away from us (Platini would try though). I`m just interested to see the perception of our club post-CL victory?
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